Pratica di Shadowing: The Rise of *Labubu* Dolls, Explained - Impara a parlare inglese con YouTube
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What the f**k is a labubu?
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What the f**k is a labubu?
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Someone said on that video,
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that is what a French person calls an injury.
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Labubu.
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But seriously, what is a labubu?
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I mean, have you guys also started seeing these freaky gremlin dolls everywhere?
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In stores, online, hanging from people's bags?
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These plush toy monsters that are popping up everywhere are called labubus,
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and I had no clue what they were until you guys
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started commenting about them in my recent video on the downfall of Stanley Cups.
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For some reason, I had read the word labubu in comment sections before,
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but I thought it was a type of dress that was sold at Lululemon.
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It wasn't until you guys started telling me to make a video about the rise of labubus
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that I finally googled them and I saw this.
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Since then, I have had so many labubu videos pop up on my feed,
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including this one where people shared how much money they have spent on a single labubu doll.
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$130, $150 in a three-hour drive, $325.
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As a reminder, this is how much folks are spending on a single one of these dolls.
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So what gives?
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Why are these weird little dolls suddenly everywhere?
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Especially when so many people who love labubus admit to thinking that they were really creepy at first.
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I say let's talk about it.
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Let's talk about what caused the insane rise of labubu dolls,
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the psychology behind our obsession with collecting trinkets like them,
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and whether labubus have any chance of really lasting in our culture that is obsessed with microtrends.
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So let's start with the very rise of LeBooBoo dolls and how it happened.
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Also, before we even go there, what are these things?
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For those who don't know,
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LeBooBoo dolls are small collectible figures made by the Chinese toy company Popmart.
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They're part of a larger art toy universe and were designed by artist Ka-Sing Lung,
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whose characters tend to lean into a mischievous,
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offbeat type, thus the nightmarish toothy smile that these LeBooBoo's have.
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And despite looking like an Ewok had a child with a Furby in the Smile cinematic universe,
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labubus have gained a massive following, especially among Gen Z.
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According to Wikipedia,
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the frenzy first kicked off after Lisa from the K-pop group Blackpink was spotted with a labubu keychain on her bag.
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The obsession has only grown from there.
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People are turning into labubu collectors,
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and like we just saw,
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people are down to spend hundreds of dollars on these monsters.
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There's limited edition ones, vintage ones,
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labubu blind boxes, and those are actually a critical part of the strategy.
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See, Labuboos have benefited from many of the same marketing tactics that made Stanley Cups go viral last year.
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Think of the limited edition drops that we saw with Stanley Cups
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or that we've seen with brands that have been revived like Crocs.
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We now see the exact same thing happening with Labuboos.
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Why?
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Because it creates this feeling of scarcity.
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Like you have to go out and buy more or you're gonna miss out.
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If you haven't already, watch my video on how FOMO culture keeps us poor to really dive deeper into that whole topic.
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And it's the same thing with blind boxes.
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Not knowing what's inside creates this sense of excitement.
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There's a psychology concept called variable reward systems.
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And the idea is that we get hooked to activities that provide us unpredictable rewards.
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When we don't know if our blind box is going to have that special labubu that we want,
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we are flooded with anticipation and desire,
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and when we open the box,
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we either get disappointment that feeds more into the desire,
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or we get this rush of pleasure for having the labubu that we want,
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and then it feeds right back into desire.
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This leads to many just buying more and more blind boxes
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so that they don't miss out on the item that they really want.
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Now we'll dive more into the psychology of collectibles as well,
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but it's important to realize that what's driving the labubu obsession right now is not new.
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It's not new, but it's certainly effective.
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Recently, it was reported that London's fashion retail scene was reselling certain labubus for a thousand dollars.
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And the labubu rise has led to Popmart beating profit expectations and making 427 million dollars in 2024,
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which seems like a ridiculous amount of money made by just selling monster dolls.
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But it's less surprising when you realize how many labubus people are buying.
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Armies of these expensive gremlins.
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And while of course people can spend where they want,
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it does strike me as really crazy to spend
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so much money on dolls that are likely going to be out of style,
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out of fashion in just a year.
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And then what?
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It's gonna be clutter.
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It's gonna be trash.
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There isn't a utility to labubus beyond being a labubu.
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Oh yeah?
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Says who?
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I, for one, love my labubu.
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Oh, geez, it's my arch nemesis, Hat Cara.
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It's the version of Cara who is awful at money and spends way too much on hat.
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And labubus now.
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I am a labubu gal.
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Of course you are.
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But come on, you have to admit that labubus don't have a real functional use.
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I mean, they're just a status item.
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Like, when this craze is all done,
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what are you gonna do with all your labubus?
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Are you gonna stitch them up and sleep on them?
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You know what?
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Maybe I will, okay?
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Who's to say that 300 labubus all stitched together wouldn't make a very comfortable mattress.
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I think if you really wanted a comfortable mattress,
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you would go with something like Birch Living's mattress,
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which happens to be today's sponsor.
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Wait a second, did you just set me up for a brand segment?
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I did, I did.
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I needed a way to get you to stop talking about La Boo Boo's for a minute.
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Plus, I wanted to talk about what is literally one of the comfiest mattresses I have ever owned.
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So I recently switched to Birch Living mattress,
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and genuinely, it makes me so excited to go to sleep right now because of how comfortable I feel.
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The mattress is plush and breathable and I feel like I have less back pain now.
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I specifically used to wake up with this lower back pain
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when it was around my time of the month and I just accepted that as part of life.
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I figured that was normal,
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but I have yet to have any of that back pain since sleeping on a birch mattress.
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The pillows too are really cozy.
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They support my neck so that I'm not waking up with neck
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or shoulder pain and I feel like I'm sleeping better through the night,
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which gives me a whole lot more energy through the day.
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The mattresses themselves are made with really good materials,
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organic cotton, organic wool, natural latex,
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and the delivery process was such a breeze.
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They deliver right to your door,
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and if you don't like setting it up yourself,
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they even offer an in-home setup and removal.
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If you guys know my content well,
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you'll know I'm very much about being intentional with money,
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and I think that quality is way better than quantity,
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and so while I might not be on the bandwagon of spending $200 a pop for a Labubu collectible,
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I definitely am for buying a high quality mattress
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that can help you sleep better and that you'll use for the next decade of your life.
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If you have been in the market for a new mattress,
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typically the advice is to get a new one every eight-ish years.
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Birch Living is having a Memorial Day sale right now and if you use my exclusive code birchpartner27,
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you can get 27% off plus two free pillows with your mattress purchase.
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Use my link down below and code birchpartner27 for 27% off.
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And thank you so much to Birch Living for sponsoring today's video.
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All right, so we have a sense of how Libuboos got big in the first place
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and the psychology behind why their scarcity-driven marketing is so effective.
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But what about the psychology behind why people are obsessed with collectibles in the first place?
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I mean, this isn't the first time that we have seen a trend like Libuboos grip the public attention.
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We have seen Smiskies before,
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something I covered in my De-Influencing Your Holiday Wishlist video.
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We've seen Sunny Angels, which I don't like at all,
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they look really creepy to me.
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We've seen jelly cats and squishmallows
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and back in the day we saw beanie baby collections running this world to the point where people were convinced
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that they were gonna outpace the stock market.
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People were feral about beanie babies, myself included.
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I was like five but I did have a lot of beanie babies.
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I think this history tells us two very important things about the labubu trend.
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One is that labubu's relevancy is on a countdown.
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I cannot envision a world where these are a trend that ends up staying.
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I think that labubus will fall the same way that so many hyper-consumerous microtrends fall,
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which is eventually becoming clutter and this weird meme that we look back on.
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And maybe those who spend thousands of dollars on labubus will flinch
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when they think about what that money could have been worth if they had like invested it instead.
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So that's one thing that we can learn from history.
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The other is that humans love collectibles.
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What is it about us that makes us so into accumulating matching trinkets and displaying them together?
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When I researched this topic,
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I came across multiple publications drawing a very clear distinction between collecting and hoarding.
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Because on the surface, collecting could look something like hoarding,
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but the two are different.
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As this paper explains, collecting is a widespread normative human activity.
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The key difference is how symbolism plays into a collector's mindset.
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Collectors feel like the items that they are collecting somehow symbolize qualities about them.
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It might be cuteness, joy,
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a sense of humor, innocence,
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playfulness, or it could be ruggedness,
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cleverness, worldliness, a symbol to show that you're intelligent and you have depth.
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For labubus, here is my read on what people are subliminally trying to express about themselves when they have one.
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Looking at a labubu, there's this contrast that's going on, right?
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Ignore the face and you have this cuddly adorable figure with cute clothes add the face in
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and now you're looking at something a little more off-putting It's mischievous Surprising it has a slight edge to it
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So think about what that ends up communicating if you're collecting la boo-boos
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and therefore they're meant to represent a certain part of who you are What are you trying to message?
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I think it's that hey,
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i'm a cute person I can look adorable and fashionable and tiny But I'm not just cute.
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I've got a surprising side of me that is a little weird,
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a little rebellious, that doesn't play into all the cutesy norms.
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If we look back at Lisa from Blackpink who helped kickstart this whole trend,
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her Vanity Fair video talking about La Boo Boo's shows a lot of this same characterization.
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She looks glamorous and cute and yet has a unique and quirky side to her.
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What I'm getting at is that we use trinkets and collectibles as a way to express ourselves to others,
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and by doing so we can also try to find some sense of community.
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Something that I found really interesting about the labubu trend is this sense of,
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if you know, you know,
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type language used in the community.
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Like the differences between a labubu and a lafufu,
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which is the term for a fake labubu,
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it creates this language within a subculture that,
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if you know the language,
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you feel this deeper sense of belonging.
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I think that's why people also start getting more attached to these monster dolls once they're familiar with the lore.
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You feel like you're part of a community with its own set of references
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and inside jokes that no one else can understand.
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The last force that I think is helping fuel the labubu craze is,
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interestingly, an economic one.
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There's this economic idea called the lipstick effect,
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and this refers to the phenomenon where,
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during economic downturns or times of financial uncertainty,
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people spend on small luxuries that make them feel good.
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Instead of splurging on big ticket items like vacations or designer bags,
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they'll opt for more affordable indulgences like a $15 lipstick or perhaps a $50 blind box toy.
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Labuboos hit that sweet spot.
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They're quirky, collectible, and they feel like a treat,
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but they don't necessarily break the bank.
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At least, like, unless you buy,
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you know, an army of them the way that some people do.
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Right now, the world is facing a whole lot of economic uncertainty.
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In my video breaking down the tariffs chaos,
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I talk about how prices are on the rise and there's a potential recession looming,
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meaning that many people are looking to cut back on their spending.
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So during a time when people are looking to cut costs,
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labubus seem like this accessible way to feel joy,
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participate in a trend, and express identity through consumption.
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What I worry about though is that,
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just like we talked about before,
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I don't think this trend is going to last.
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I feel like this moment of the labubu craze is really
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just one moment amongst many in this larger arc of rotating micro trends and collectibles.
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Yes, buying yourself a little luxury and expressing yourself through a product,
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it's not the end of the world by any means.
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But stretching your budget or over-consuming in the name of something like the labubu trend doesn't ultimately feel worth it.
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Before we start participating in trends like the rise of labubus,
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it's worth asking ourselves, what are we trying to communicate through those viral items?
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And is there perhaps a more productive,
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more real way we can channel our identity or desire for belonging?
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But what do you guys think?
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Are you into the labubu trend or do you know someone who is?
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And if so, what do you think about this rise of labubus and their potential downfall?
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Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and what topics you wanna see me cover next.
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If you liked this video,
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check out my video on the downfall of Stanley Cups that I recently posted.
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That is where the idea for this video came.
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And be sure to subscribe for more videos about the intersection of money, media, and culture.
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Thank you so much to my patrons on Patreon and those on Buy Me A Coffee for supporting this channel.
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And thank you all so, so much for watching.
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I will see you next time.
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Bye.
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Contesto & Background
Nel video intitolato "L'Ascesa delle Bambole Labubu", il narratore esplora il fenomeno delle bambole Labubu, un curioso giocattolo che ha conquistato la cultura pop, soprattutto tra i giovani. Inizialmente considerati inquietanti, questi pupazzi di peluche hanno catalizzato l'attenzione dei collezionisti e dei fan della cultura giovanile. L'analisi di come e perché queste bambole siano diventate così popolari offre spunti interessanti per chi vuole migliorare la propria comprensione ed espressione in inglese, utilizzando tecniche di shadowing in inglese.
Le 5 Frasi chiave per la comunicazione quotidiana
- "What the f**k is a labubu?" - Un'espressione di sorpresa di fronte a qualcosa di sconosciuto.
- "I had no clue what they were" - Utilizzata per esprimere ignoranza su un argomento specifico.
- "Why are these weird little dolls suddenly everywhere?" - Una domanda retorica che invita alla riflessione.
- "It creates this feeling of scarcity" - Riferito al marketing e alla psicologia del consumo.
- "There's limited edition ones" - Indica l'importanza dell'esclusività nel mercato dei collezionisti.
Guida passo-passo per il Shadowing
Per affrontare la difficoltà di questo video e migliorare la tua pronuncia e fluidità parlando inglese, ti consiglio di seguire questa guida di shadow speech. Il metodo di shadowspeak coinvolge non solo l'ascolto, ma anche la ripetizione attiva.
- Ascolta attentamente: Guarda il video senza sottotitoli per comprendere il contesto generale.
- Identifica le frasi chiave: Prendi nota delle frasi trattate nella sezione precedente e ripetile ad alta voce.
- Pause e ripeti: Metti in pausa il video ogni volta che il narratore pronuncia una frase interessante. Ripeti esattamente ciò che ascolti; questo ti aiuterà a migliorare il tuo accento e la tua intonazione.
- Focus sulla pronuncia: Presta attenzione alla pronuncia dei suoni difficili. Usa risorse online per ascoltare la corretta elocuzione dei suoni che ti risultano complicati.
- Pratica in modo costante: Dedica del tempo ogni giorno a esercitarti con il shadow speak; la coerenza è fondamentale per migliorare.
Affrontando questi passaggi, non solo migliorerai il tuo inglese, ma avrai anche una migliore comprensione culturale degli argomenti attuali!
Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?
Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.
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