Goblin Mode
There are a few key features that make a person want something: Necessity, novelty, perceived value, and scarcity. Naturally, these are all traits that marketing executives are constantly considering when pitching a product to the masses. None, however, have capitalized on human instinct as effectively as the team over at the Labubu factory.
Via u/beigecardigan
What’s so special about this toy anyway? Labubu dolls are plushies with big eyes and a toothy grin, and while these characters come in many shapes, sizes, and styles, the most popular Labubu’s are the keychain accessories. Often selling out online in seconds, they retail at $27 but resale on eBay for $100s—sometimes $1000s—as customers scramble to get their own little critter accessory. The power of the Labubu doll has been joyfully coaxing desperate buyers like the Pied Piper, luring them in droves to online trading posts, to eBay, and even those weird, backwater collector’s forums.
Taking a page out of the Beanie Baby handbook—as well as a few notes from the marketing successes of Cabbage Patch Kids, Pokémon, and baseball card trading—Pop Mart, the makers of Labubu dolls, have created a hefty marketing machine. Through a limited release schedule (Labubu’s are only restocked on Thursday nights), the buzz around Labubu is palpable. “Pop Mart has replicated the restricted-supply concept of distribution that drove the Beanie Babies craze,”Guardian reporter, Van Badham, says. “Releasing waves of variations, some in very limited numbers, and then cutting them off—creating hype around new releases, as well as the use of collectibles markets like eBay as an ongoing, unpaid-for marketing front.”
Twirling their mustaches over the success of their Labubu doll sales, Pop Mart introduced another element of excitement over their toys: Blind boxes. For the low, low price of $27 you can purchase eight keychains, however your Labubu characters are totally anonymous until you unbox them. Badham says, “At purchase, you don’t know which precise model of Labubu you’ll acquire. There’s a lottery element of possibly acquiring a rare doll with a higher potential resale value than others.” Through this structuring, Labubu dolls harness the power of human desire, driving sales by exploiting innately human impulses and playing the masses like a fiddle.
Via u/shoppecue
Selling Nostalgia
The Pop Mart spokesperson himself said, “This isn’t just about ‘toys’ but a collectible, pop-culture movement.” Apart from their apparent scarcity and the hype surrounding the toys, Labubu dolls also encapsulate another key selling point: Nostalgia. Mimicking the structure of the soft-bodied Cabbage Patch dolls of the 80s, Labubu’s offer their own modern spin on the classic feel-good toy—no doubt, capitalizing on extensive social media exposure to fast-track this virality. “In this framework, the doll becomes a totem for collective introspection,” Badham says. “Labubu offers a retreat into an illusion of childhood simplicity, to escape the complexities that presently overwhelm our adult world.”
Piggybacking off of gremlinesque cultural movements like “Brat Summer,” the Labubu doll’s persona evokes a feeling of mischief, frivolity, and sentimentality. With their evil grins and their cute tummies, it’s hard to resist the dualistic charm of a Labubu. Despite knowing that most toys are catered towards children, the main customers for Labubu dolls are young adults. Monitoring their social media pages for the next merch drop and lining up by the 100s outside of Pop Mart stores, young people are obsessed with Labubu. Clinging to their childlike innocence, while simultaneously embracing their rebellious adulthood, these young people are easily persuaded by the FOMO of Pop Mart’s marketing as well as the novelty of the doll itself.
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Online mental health source Resilience Lab explains FOMO as a “desire for inclusion and connection.” The Labubu’s exclusivity and hyperexposure on social media make them the perfect petri dish, breeding FOMO at record rates and driving Labubu sales through the roof. Because you don’t want to be caught as the only person without a Labubu, do you?
The Power of Labubu Compels You
Humans are simple creatures. Like a capuchin spotting another monkey eating a banana, we crave a bite when we see someone enjoying something we don’t have. This primal desire is enough to drive our monkey-brains into a banana bidding war on eBay to secure our own delicious fruit. We naturally covet the things we lack, becoming desperate to acquire more trinkets for our treasure trove—even more so when that “resource” is as scarce as a Labubu doll.
Although we know that the hype over Labubu will be short-lived, it’s hard to fight the FOMO and the social exclusion that comes from inaction. As the jolly faces of Labubu customers flash across our home pages and the victorious grins of their post-purchase elation tickle our jealousy receptors, the Labubu hypnosis takes root, even in the most resilient of anti-consumerist minds. In fact, after all of this research into the Labubu doll’s psychological manipulation, I'm even considering lining up outside of a certified retailer to try my hand at a lottery box. Could I discover a rare, resellable Labubu? Or do I just want my own emotional support keychain that looks like a gremlin?
Like my old Beanie Babies, who lost their “Ty” tags within seconds of leaving the store, some toys hold more value in the eye of the beholder than they do on eBay. A toy’s real value stems from the nostalgic wonder of childhood, sewn lovingly into the seams of every plush and oozing free with each riveting unboxing.
Via u/lon.clothing