You know that haircut every teenage boy seemed to have around 2019? The one with curly hair on top and shaved sides that genuinely looks like a crown of broccoli? Yeah, Gen Z literally named it after a vegetable, and honestly, they weren't wrong.

The broccoli haircut exploded in popularity thanks to TikTok, where it became the unofficial uniform of boys born between 2005 and 2010. Also called the "zoomer perm" or "TikTok haircut," it features a heavily permed or naturally curly top with a tight fade on the sides. The style owes its DNA to earlier trends like the undercut, but what made it unique was its volume—we're talking serious, spiral-permed volume that defied gravity. Young celebrities and influencers like Noah Beck helped cement its status, making perm appointments a regular thing for straight-haired teens desperate to join the club.

Here's the wild part: the style became so ubiquitous that it sparked an actual backlash. By 2022, "broccoli head" became an insult rather than a compliment, with older Gen Z kids roasting younger ones for their vegetable-inspired locks. Hairstylists reported that boys would come in asking for "anything but the broccoli cut." The haircut had gone from trendy to cringe-worthy in record time—a cautionary tale about what happens when literally everyone at school has the identical hairstyle. Who knew broccoli could be so divisive?