McIndoe described it as “a way to laugh at the madness rather than be overcome by it,” The Times reported. In a uniquely bleak time to come of age, it doesn’t hurt to have something to laugh about together.” One supporter from Florida told The Times the parody “makes you stop for a second and laugh. The movement appeals as a harmless alternative to real conspiracy theories for those turning to the internet for a sense of belonging. “The idea is meant to be so preposterous, but we make sure nothing we’re saying is too realistic,” McIndoe told The Times. Those in the “Bird Brigade” are conscious of the fine line they walk between reality and their brand of nonsense. “My favorite way to describe the organization is fighting lunacy with lunacy.” “It’s a way to combat troubles in the world that you don’t really have other ways of combating,” said Claire Chronis, 22, a Birds Aren’t Real organizer in Pittsburgh. It’s Gen Z’s attempt to upend the rabbit hole with absurdism,” The Times wrote. In a post-truth world dominated by online conspiracy theories, young people have coalesced around the effort to thumb their nose at, fight and poke fun at misinformation. “What Birds Aren’t Real truly is … is a parody social movement with a purpose. The movement gained notoriety last year when throngs protested outside Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters to call on the company to change its logo.

Louis Cardinals baseball organization and Twitter. Part of the schtick involves protesting logos that rely on bird images, such as the St.

government to spy on Americans,” The Times wrote. “The events were all connected by a Gen Z-fueled conspiracy theory, which posits that birds don’t exist and are really drone replicas installed by the U.S. The “Birds Aren’t Real” accounts grew to attract hundreds of thousands of followers, fueled by McIndoe using an alternative persona to promote the theory with guest interviews and observations, according to The Times. The message spread on T-shirts and billboards. McIndoe dropped out of college to lead the so-called “Bird Brigade” as it became a sensation on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok with its own website and merchandise. As with many phenomena, the satirical action was caught on someone’s video and it went viral.

Thunder birds real