What IS Labubu?
Labubu, for the uninitiated, is a mischievous-looking collectable figure from Hong Kong toy brand Pop Mart. Imagine a wide-eyed, grinning creature that’s part cute, part chaos, like it crawled out of a pastel fever dream.
In 2023, Labubu didn’t just go viral, it became the must-have accessory across TikTok, Instagram, with limited drops selling out in minutes.
In 2025, it’s having a second wave, fuelled by celebrity sightings, pop-up hype, and Pop Mart’s knack for turning every release into a social media event you don’t want to miss. In the UK, they even paused retail sales after shop overcrowding, which only cranked up the anticipation (and the queues) when it returned.
The twist...
...I didn’t even like it.
The first time I saw Labubu, I thought, “That’s… ugly?” But the more it popped up in my feed, unboxings, outfit-of-the-day shots, friends proudly showing theirs in cafés, the more it pulled me in. Eventually, I bought one, clipped it to my bag, and felt a little thrill every time someone pointed and said, “Oh my god, you have a Labubu!”
It wasn’t love at first sight. It was love at first trend.
This is where my point of view comes in: trends drive behaviour even without personal preference. My Labubu purchase wasn’t about my taste; it was about wanting to be part of the conversation. About signalling that I was “in” on something.
Mimetic desire
Psychologists call this mimetic desire, the idea that we want things because other people want them. Add the scarcity effect (limited drops and surprise releases) and a healthy dose of FOMO, and you’ve got a recipe for hype so strong it overrides personal style.
It’s why we sometimes buy things we didn’t think twice about yesterday, just because everyone seems to be snapping them up today. In marketing, this works because humans are wired to seek social belonging.
If the people around us are chasing something, our brains interpret it as valuable, even before we consciously decide we like it.
Brands know this playbook well:
Scarcity & urgency → Limited drops, countdown timers, “sold out” updates
Social proof → Influencers flaunting theirs, friends posting it on Instagram
Identity signalling → It’s not just a product; it’s a badge of belonging
Labubu nailed all three. It’s the same formula behind Stanley Cups in seasonal shades or makeup collabs that vanish in hours.
So no, I still don’t think Labubu is particularly cute. But it makes people smile, start conversations, and in some strange way, that makes me smile too. And that, more than the toy itself, is why it stays clipped to my bag.