“There exist stories that don’t exist”.
Keep this quote from Italian comedian Maccio Capatonda in mind as you follow me into the strange and (non)existent world of Italian Brainrot.
Because we’ve got to start there before we get to our interview with the Panini Collectibles marketing team, who kindly agreed to talk to us about the Skifidol Italian Brainrot sticker album that they recently released.
For the uninitiated, Italian Brainrot is the maddest, daftest viral phenomenon of 2025.
It began with Italian TikTokers sharing videos of weird AI-generated creatures with even weirder names. The memes soon blew up on the platform in Italy, before escaping beyond its borders.
These bizarre beings are now colonising social media worldwide, having captured the imaginations of Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
With its AI-enabled nonsensical creativity, Italian Brainrot has carved out a surreal new subgenre of user-generated content. And this universe of images, words and sounds has grown so large, so quickly that it’s caught the eye of Italian collectibles giant Panini, which has launched a new line of products.
And not any old products.
A sticker collection with an album to boot.
But why?
What drew them to it?
And what bizarre universe has the collision between Panini and Italian Brainrot spawned?
Let’s explore them together!
Blog: Hello and thanks for speaking to us! Italian Brainrot is the most significant and most peculiar viral phenomenon of 2025: social media users harnessing the creative potential of AI to invent odd creatures that are a cross between animals, anthropomorphic figures and random objects. The result is a motley crew of characters that are instantly recognisable, especially to younger generations. And they’re sweeping across the web in a vortex of bizarre virality.
What is it about Italian Brainrot that led you to bring this strange universe into the Panini collectibles range?
Team Collectibles Panini: Thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk about this! The answer lies in the phenomenon’s incredible virality. We watched the speed with which these characters had become part of fans’ everyday lives, so we swiftly adapted them all for our most popular and accessible offering: a sticker album.
Blog: Panini stickers meet Italian Brainrot in a special themed collection: Skifidol™ Italian Brainrot. It’s a product line based on a trend started by internet users. Did this aspect change your approach to the product compared to the way you usually manage your intellectual property? If so, can you tell us how?
Team Collectibles Panini: Our IP portfolio is very extensive, and we’re used to working on and with a very diverse mix of projects and brands. The approach for Skifidol Italian Brainrot followed the standard scouting process. The key was the speed of response, which allowed us to go to market very quickly and ride the wave of the phenomenon.
Blog. Italian Brainrot was created and developed online through the use of AI. Have you faced new challenges or taken different creative approaches given that it’s a product born of AI? Did you use AI in any way to produce Skifidol™ Italian Brainrot products?
Team Collectibles Panini: Our sticker collection features existing characters from the “Psychedelic Universe” and “Cosmic Hallucination” series. We didn’t use AI to generate material from scratch. When it comes to the use of AI more generally, it’s a complex issue, but humans are and always will be a core part of our DNA.
Blog. Panini didn’t stop at a line of collectible Italian Brainrot stickers but also started a wider collaboration that includes other products like collectible cards. Can you tell us about the ecosystem of Skifidol™ Italian Brainrot products that Panini is part of?
Team Collectibles Panini: In the Italian market, we publish the stickers and the magazine. In European markets, Panini is an exclusive partner for the distribution of the trading cards.
Blog. The geographical origins of Italian Brainrot are in its name. Yet it’s a phenomenon with global appeal. How does it make you feel, knowing that it was born in Italy? If it had been created in another country, do you think it would still have interested you, business-wise?
Team Collectibles Panini: Our group has always kept a sharp eye on emerging trends – local and international – and enjoys constant and effective communication between subsidiaries in different markets.
The fact that this particular phenomenon began in Italy meant we could assess it quicker and, seeing in it great potential for success both at home and abroad, we shared what we knew with subsidiaries in other markets.
If a phenomenon like this had started in another country, we would have evaluated its appeal in our market by looking at related trends, the availability of other themed products and the potential for growth.
Trends don’t always catch on in the same way in every country: part of the challenge of working in our world lies in understanding which audience we’re trying to reach, and how to do so as effectively as possible.
