The Secret Life of Labubu
As a marketer, I’m obsessed with the emotional triggers and perfect cultural timing that turn niche products into global obsessions. One of the most fascinating case studies in recent memory? Labubu dolls. If you’ve walked through any hip Fairfax boutique, strolled Century City Mall, or found yourself deep in a Reddit plushie rabbit hole, you’ve likely come across these furry, mischievously grinning little vinyl figures. But they’re not just toys…they’re a movement.
YouTuber Prymrr teases a live Labubu hunt & unboxing
How a Toy Became a Cultural Marker
Labubu, created by the Hong Kong-based artist Kasing Lung and distributed through the POP MART ecosystem, occupies a strange space in our zeitgeist. They’re simultaneously adorable and unsettling, designed like something that crawled out of a bedtime story and bit you on the ass. And yet, they’re adored. Not by only children, but adults (both men and women), collectors, stylists, and self-proclaimed hypebeasts.
Unlike collectible toys in the West, which often ride on blockbuster IPs (Marvel, Star Wars, or nostalgic 90s brands), Labubu built its following without traditional marketing. There are no TV spots, no influencer blitzes, no glossy campaigns. Just limited runs, clever blind box drops, and a word-of-mouth network that would make any CMO turn green with envy.
TikTok user VincentElJorde goes Labubu shopping in K-Town
The Power of Scarcity and Secrecy
What’s brilliant (and frustrating for traditional marketers) about Labubu’s rise is its commitment to not playing the game. There’s an artful avoidance of mass exposure. POP MART controls distribution tightly, drops new designs with little warning, and keeps production numbers low. This creates an echo chamber of desire. The less accessible a figure is, the more it’s worth, both financially and culturally.
This tactic ‘aint new. Supreme, Nike SB, and even Hermès have leveraged scarcity for years. But, Labubu does it in a way that feels anti-commercial, like punk rock meets luxury branding. In doing so, it attracts not just collectors but cultural curators, people who use these dolls as signals of taste, social exclusivity, and edge.
Flicker user Andy Pang shows off a Carhart + Labubu fashion combo
Why L.a. is The Ideal Breeding Ground for a Labubu Craze
Why is Labubu thriving in Los Anegles? Because this city is uniquely wired for it.
L.A. has always thrived on cultural hybridization. East meets West. High art meets low brow. Fashion meets fandom. Labubu sits at the crossroads of all of this; Asian pop art meets designer toy culture, filtered through the lens of LA’s obsession with the next thing. It’s no coincidence that you’ll find Labubu dolls featured in minimalist lifestyle stores next to $300 candles or used as set decoration in influencer homes. They’re cultural shorthand now, appearing in social media videos as cultural cache.
Plus, L.A.’s gig economy and entertainment workforce create a demographic that is highly online, deeply trend-aware, and always seeking the next collectible flex. In a town where identity is branding and branding is identity, Labubu is a totem of cutesy underground cool.
A Facebook user offers handmade Labubu costume rentals
Knockoffs and the Fragility of Authenticity
As with any hot trend, imitation follows. Cheap dupes of Labubu figures (pejoratively referred to s ‘Lafufus’) are flooding sites like AliExpress and Temu, and spilling off the shelves of pop-up vendors all over LA. This isn’t just a problem for POP MART, it’s a reflection of a broader issue: the speed at which global demand outpaces controlled production.
The risk for Labubu isn’t just dilution of product, it’s dilution of meaning. Once a subculture is fully commercialized and its signals easily copied, the original tribe tends to move on. This is the tightrope walk every hype brand faces, and it’s a key moment for POP MART. Do they scale and risk selling out, or stay niche and possibly fade out?
POP MART and Coco-Cola team up to promote limited edition Labubus
What Labubu Says About Us
Labubu dolls are a microcosm of something much bigger. They tell us about the changing nature of marketing in a post-traditional world. About the hunger for tangible objects in a digital age. About how adults are reclaiming play, and not as regression, but as identity expression. And about how cities like Los Angeles (full of its creators, hustlers, and cultural miners) can turn even the weirdest thing into the next big thing.
In a world oversaturated with content and choice, Labubu’s rise proves that the old rules don’t always apply. Sometimes, to market well, you don’t market at all.
And in that, there’s a lesson for all of us trying to build brands, shape culture, and ride a wave before it crashes.
