Pratique du Shadowing: The Rise of Labubu Dolls, Explained - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

What the f**k is a labubu?

⏸ En pause

Vitesse :

234 phrases

Si les phrases sont trop courtes ou trop longues, cliquez sur Edit pour les ajuster.

What the f**k is a labubu?

Someone said on that video,

that is what a French person calls an injury.

Labubu.

But seriously, what is a labubu?

I mean, have you guys also started seeing these freaky gremlin dolls everywhere?

In stores, online, hanging from people's bags?

These plush toy monsters that are popping up everywhere are called labubus,

and I had no clue what they were until you guys

started commenting about them in my recent video on the downfall of Stanley Cups.

For some reason, I had read the word labubu in comment sections before,

but I thought it was a type of dress that was sold at Lululemon.

It wasn't until you guys started telling me to make a video about the rise of labubus

that I finally googled them and I saw this.

Since then, I have had so many labubu videos pop up on my feed,

including this one where people shared how much money they have spent on a single labubu doll.

$130, $150 in a three-hour drive, $325.

As a reminder, this is how much folks are spending on a single one of these dolls.

So what gives?

Why are these weird little dolls suddenly everywhere?

Especially when so many people who love labubus admit to thinking that they were really creepy at first.

I say let's talk about it.

Let's talk about what caused the insane rise of labubu dolls,

the psychology behind our obsession with collecting trinkets like them,

and whether labubus have any chance of really lasting in our culture that is obsessed with microtrends.

So let's start with the very rise of LeBooBoo dolls and how it happened.

Also, before we even go there, what are these things?

For those who don't know,

LeBooBoo dolls are small collectible figures made by the Chinese toy company Popmart.

They're part of a larger art toy universe and were designed by artist Ka-Sing Lung,

whose characters tend to lean into a mischievous,

offbeat type, thus the nightmarish toothy smile that these LeBooBoo's have.

And despite looking like an Ewok had a child with a Furby in the Smile cinematic universe,

labubus have gained a massive following, especially among Gen Z.

According to Wikipedia,

the frenzy first kicked off after Lisa from the K-pop group Blackpink was spotted with a labubu keychain on her bag.

The obsession has only grown from there.

People are turning into labubu collectors,

and like we just saw,

people are down to spend hundreds of dollars on these monsters.

There's limited edition ones, vintage ones,

labubu blind boxes, and those are actually a critical part of the strategy.

See, Labuboos have benefited from many of the same marketing tactics that made Stanley Cups go viral last year.

Think of the limited edition drops that we saw with Stanley Cups

or that we've seen with brands that have been revived like Crocs.

We now see the exact same thing happening with Labuboos.

Why?

Because it creates this feeling of scarcity.

Like you have to go out and buy more or you're gonna miss out.

If you haven't already, watch my video on how FOMO culture keeps us poor to really dive deeper into that whole topic.

And it's the same thing with blind boxes.

Not knowing what's inside creates this sense of excitement.

There's a psychology concept called variable reward systems.

And the idea is that we get hooked to activities that provide us unpredictable rewards.

When we don't know if our blind box is going to have that special labubu that we want,

we are flooded with anticipation and desire,

and when we open the box,

we either get disappointment that feeds more into the desire,

or we get this rush of pleasure for having the labubu that we want,

and then it feeds right back into desire.

This leads to many just buying more and more blind boxes

so that they don't miss out on the item that they really want.

Now we'll dive more into the psychology of collectibles as well,

but it's important to realize that what's driving the labubu obsession right now is not new.

It's not new, but it's certainly effective.

Recently, it was reported that London's fashion retail scene was reselling certain labubus for a thousand dollars.

And the labubu rise has led to Popmart beating profit expectations and making 427 million dollars in 2024,

which seems like a ridiculous amount of money made by just selling monster dolls.

But it's less surprising when you realize how many labubus people are buying.

Armies of these expensive gremlins.

And while of course people can spend where they want,

it does strike me as really crazy to spend

so much money on dolls that are likely going to be out of style,

out of fashion in just a year.

And then what?

It's gonna be clutter.

It's gonna be trash.

There isn't a utility to labubus beyond being a labubu.

Oh yeah?

Says who?

I, for one, love my labubu.

Oh, geez, it's my arch nemesis, Hat Cara.

It's the version of Cara who is awful at money and spends way too much on hat.

And labubus now.

I am a labubu gal.

Of course you are.

But come on, you have to admit that labubus don't have a real functional use.

I mean, they're just a status item.

Like, when this craze is all done,

what are you gonna do with all your labubus?

Are you gonna stitch them up and sleep on them?

You know what?

Maybe I will, okay?

Who's to say that 300 labubus all stitched together wouldn't make a very comfortable mattress.

I think if you really wanted a comfortable mattress,

you would go with something like Birch Living's mattress,

which happens to be today's sponsor.

Wait a second, did you just set me up for a brand segment?

I did, I did.

100

I needed a way to get you to stop talking about La Boo Boo's for a minute.

101

Plus, I wanted to talk about what is literally one of the comfiest mattresses I have ever owned.

102

So I recently switched to Birch Living mattress,

103

and genuinely, it makes me so excited to go to sleep right now because of how comfortable I feel.

104

The mattress is plush and breathable and I feel like I have less back pain now.

105

I specifically used to wake up with this lower back pain

106

when it was around my time of the month and I just accepted that as part of life.

107

I figured that was normal,

108

but I have yet to have any of that back pain since sleeping on a birch mattress.

109

The pillows too are really cozy.

110

They support my neck so that I'm not waking up with neck

111

or shoulder pain and I feel like I'm sleeping better through the night,

112

which gives me a whole lot more energy through the day.

113

The mattresses themselves are made with really good materials,

114

organic cotton, organic wool, natural latex,

115

and the delivery process was such a breeze.

116

They deliver right to your door,

117

and if you don't like setting it up yourself,

118

they even offer an in-home setup and removal.

119

If you guys know my content well,

120

you'll know I'm very much about being intentional with money,

121

and I think that quality is way better than quantity,

122

and so while I might not be on the bandwagon of spending $200 a pop for a Labubu collectible,

123

I definitely am for buying a high quality mattress

124

that can help you sleep better and that you'll use for the next decade of your life.

125

If you have been in the market for a new mattress,

126

typically the advice is to get a new one every eight-ish years.

127

Birch Living is having a Memorial Day sale right now and if you use my exclusive code birchpartner27,

128

you can get 27% off plus two free pillows with your mattress purchase.

129

Use my link down below and code birchpartner27 for 27% off.

130

And thank you so much to Birch Living for sponsoring today's video.

131

All right, so we have a sense of how Libuboos got big in the first place

132

and the psychology behind why their scarcity-driven marketing is so effective.

133

But what about the psychology behind why people are obsessed with collectibles in the first place?

134

I mean, this isn't the first time that we have seen a trend like Libuboos grip the public attention.

135

We have seen Smiskies before,

136

something I covered in my De-Influencing Your Holiday Wishlist video.

137

We've seen Sunny Angels, which I don't like at all,

138

they look really creepy to me.

139

We've seen jelly cats and squishmallows

140

and back in the day we saw beanie baby collections running this world to the point where people were convinced

141

that they were gonna outpace the stock market.

142

People were feral about beanie babies, myself included.

143

I was like five but I did have a lot of beanie babies.

144

I think this history tells us two very important things about the labubu trend.

145

One is that labubu's relevancy is on a countdown.

146

I cannot envision a world where these are a trend that ends up staying.

147

I think that labubus will fall the same way that so many hyper-consumerous microtrends fall,

148

which is eventually becoming clutter and this weird meme that we look back on.

149

And maybe those who spend thousands of dollars on labubus will flinch

150

when they think about what that money could have been worth if they had like invested it instead.

151

So that's one thing that we can learn from history.

152

The other is that humans love collectibles.

153

What is it about us that makes us so into accumulating matching trinkets and displaying them together?

154

When I researched this topic,

155

I came across multiple publications drawing a very clear distinction between collecting and hoarding.

156

Because on the surface, collecting could look something like hoarding,

157

but the two are different.

158

As this paper explains, collecting is a widespread normative human activity.

159

The key difference is how symbolism plays into a collector's mindset.

160

Collectors feel like the items that they are collecting somehow symbolize qualities about them.

161

It might be cuteness, joy,

162

a sense of humor, innocence,

163

playfulness, or it could be ruggedness,

164

cleverness, worldliness, a symbol to show that you're intelligent and you have depth.

165

For labubus, here is my read on what people are subliminally trying to express about themselves when they have one.

166

Looking at a labubu, there's this contrast that's going on, right?

167

Ignore the face and you have this cuddly adorable figure with cute clothes add the face in

168

and now you're looking at something a little more off-putting It's mischievous Surprising it has a slight edge to it

169

So think about what that ends up communicating if you're collecting la boo-boos

170

and therefore they're meant to represent a certain part of who you are What are you trying to message?

171

I think it's that hey,

172

i'm a cute person I can look adorable and fashionable and tiny But I'm not just cute.

173

I've got a surprising side of me that is a little weird,

174

a little rebellious, that doesn't play into all the cutesy norms.

175

If we look back at Lisa from Blackpink who helped kickstart this whole trend,

176

her Vanity Fair video talking about La Boo Boo's shows a lot of this same characterization.

177

She looks glamorous and cute and yet has a unique and quirky side to her.

178

What I'm getting at is that we use trinkets and collectibles as a way to express ourselves to others,

179

and by doing so we can also try to find some sense of community.

180

Something that I found really interesting about the labubu trend is this sense of,

181

if you know, you know,

182

type language used in the community.

183

Like the differences between a labubu and a lafufu,

184

which is the term for a fake labubu,

185

it creates this language within a subculture that,

186

if you know the language,

187

you feel this deeper sense of belonging.

188

I think that's why people also start getting more attached to these monster dolls once they're familiar with the lore.

189

You feel like you're part of a community with its own set of references

190

and inside jokes that no one else can understand.

191

The last force that I think is helping fuel the labubu craze is,

192

interestingly, an economic one.

193

There's this economic idea called the lipstick effect,

194

and this refers to the phenomenon where,

195

during economic downturns or times of financial uncertainty,

196

people spend on small luxuries that make them feel good.

197

Instead of splurging on big ticket items like vacations or designer bags,

198

they'll opt for more affordable indulgences like a $15 lipstick or perhaps a $50 blind box toy.

199

Labuboos hit that sweet spot.

200

They're quirky, collectible, and they feel like a treat,

201

but they don't necessarily break the bank.

202

At least, like, unless you buy,

203

you know, an army of them the way that some people do.

204

Right now, the world is facing a whole lot of economic uncertainty.

205

In my video breaking down the tariffs chaos,

206

I talk about how prices are on the rise and there's a potential recession looming,

207

meaning that many people are looking to cut back on their spending.

208

So during a time when people are looking to cut costs,

209

labubus seem like this accessible way to feel joy,

210

participate in a trend, and express identity through consumption.

211

What I worry about though is that,

212

just like we talked about before,

213

I don't think this trend is going to last.

214

I feel like this moment of the labubu craze is really

215

just one moment amongst many in this larger arc of rotating micro trends and collectibles.

216

Yes, buying yourself a little luxury and expressing yourself through a product,

217

it's not the end of the world by any means.

218

But stretching your budget or over-consuming in the name of something like the labubu trend doesn't ultimately feel worth it.

219

Before we start participating in trends like the rise of labubus,

220

it's worth asking ourselves, what are we trying to communicate through those viral items?

221

And is there perhaps a more productive,

222

more real way we can channel our identity or desire for belonging?

223

But what do you guys think?

224

Are you into the labubu trend or do you know someone who is?

225

And if so, what do you think about this rise of labubus and their potential downfall?

226

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and what topics you wanna see me cover next.

227

If you liked this video,

228

check out my video on the downfall of Stanley Cups that I recently posted.

229

That is where the idea for this video came.

230

And be sure to subscribe for more videos about the intersection of money, media, and culture.

231

Thank you so much to my patrons on Patreon and those on Buy Me A Coffee for supporting this channel.

232

And thank you all so, so much for watching.

233

I will see you next time.

234

Bye.

TRENDING

Populaires

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.

☕ Offrez-nous un café

ShadowingEnglish reste 100% gratuit grâce à votre soutien. Les coûts des serveurs et de l'IA sont élevés — votre café nous aide à continuer ! 🙏

Faire un don via PayPal

ShadowingEnglish.com – Pratique du Shadowing en Anglais

Parlez anglais couramment grâce au Shadowing. Écoutez des vidéos YouTube de locuteurs natifs, répétez phrase par phrase et développez une vraie prononciation et fluidité — utilisé par les candidats IELTS du monde entier.

Pratique du Shadowing: The Rise of Labubu Dolls, Explained - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

Populaires

Why practice speaking with this video?

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Common Pronunciation Traps

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Pratique du Shadowing: The Rise of *Labubu* Dolls, Explained - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

Télécharger l'application

Why practice speaking with this video?

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Common Pronunciation Traps

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Pratique du Shadowing: The Rise of Labubu Dolls, Explained - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube