The Labubu economy and the business of joy

The recession indicators are hard to ignore. 

From the resurgence of certain pop music (welcome back, Kesha) to comfort-core movies to seemingly every local coffee shop offering some sort of little cloud top indulgence to sweeten the tough times — these are signs to say what JPMorgan Chase is predicting to be true. Economic tough times are ahead or, at least, economic uncertainty. And what do we do in times of uncertainty as consumers? Curb spending? Absolutely. But we also find new fixations and obsessions to get us through. The economy of little joys might be the only glimmers of sanity in days that can feel quite grim. 

Coined by Leonard Lauder (of Estée Lauder) in 2001, the Lipstick Index, observed that when economic times are tough, lipstick sales rise as that little affordable luxury. While widely disputed, the simple fact is we need little bits of comfort and joy when the world feels like hell in a handbasket. 

Recently, I found myself in a local Pop Mart store — a place I’ve gone to for cute blind box toys for my nieces. I was walking by and there was a queue around the store that split in half for its vending machine and for its store. No events, just a restock. Something most retailers dream of, particularly in these trying times. New store openings are few and far between these days, but a recent one in LA had people sleeping overnight in the parking lot to get a coveted spot in line. 

As the algos operate, I started to see them pop up (excuse the pun) in my feed and these little furry creatures called Labubus on the handbags of celebrities including Rihanna, Peggy Gou and Lisa from Blackpink (the unofficial brand sponsor of all things Pop Mart). In the past year, the Chinese brand has grown 727% to over 3 billion yuan in revenue (US$419 million). Bag charms have been all the rage for a while now, another recession indicator. Make a more personalized and interesting update with a charm versus an entire new bag? It’s giving fashionable updates without the crazy price tag.   

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Labubu isn’t new. It’s been around since 2019 at Pop Mart from Hong Kong-based artist Kasing Lung, and it experienced a big surge in popularity in Spring 2024. So much so that it currently has a pop-up shop in Harrods (which has been sold out of the little pendants every day for weeks), and hosts TikTok livestreams daily that sell out of said little monsters in seconds. As someone who lived through both Cabbage Patch dolls in the ’80s and Beanie Babies in the ’90s, this feels similar but different. Blind boxes — popularized in Asia for quite some time; a strategy that incentivizes collection and surprise — adds a new element of delight. And in an era of dismal levels of dopamine, that opening of a new little furry accessory, really does act as a little pick-me-up in tough times.

Another lesson from the land of Labubus: The continued impact of Asia across Western culture that cannot be ignored. For a really long time, America took for granted the fact that culture was one of our greatest exports, but with the interconnectedness of the internet we were able to appreciate the true cultural potency of phenomena such as K-pop, anime and IP like Pokémon, to name just a few (this list could go on for days). Politics aside and a whole new world of global trade policies we’re navigating through aside — America isn’t the center of the cultural universe and that’s perfectly OK. 

Labubus are being adopted by mainstream culture at a light speed — they’re certainly not exclusively for kids, with every kind of person enthralled with the world Kasing Lung created with his little creatures. Full outfits and wardrobes, thousands of memes, coffee shops dedicated to them, you name it the trend hath taken it on. The pervasiveness across the board is something we should all at least take notice of. Usually these kinds of trends live in specific subgroups, but the signals in the market say there’s something a little more here. 

Labubus are hard to procure, which helps to drive the popularity. Often the only way to get them is not by visiting a store, but by visiting their TikTok Live sales. The livestream retail industry has been alive and thriving in China for a long time, popularized by Alibaba’s Taobao Live. It uses influencers, brands and community in maybe one of the most seamless customer experiences — something North America is familiar with in the QVC and HSN worlds — but these truly massive shopping moments have never reached the popularity it has in Asia. 

We’ve tried this several times across social and digital platforms and having it stick has been really tricky. Content-to-commerce has been a hard one to fully crack, but TikTok Shop has done a really good job of cracking the ease-side of the formula. The infrastructure of this China-based retailer for delivery is also truly impressive — customer service that’s fast and efficient, shipping that rivals American retailers and a dedication to quality that no one could argue with. 

Pop Mart will run TikTok Live sales from 4 p.m.-midnight PT, all the while just selling its products and adding flash sales of its most coveted items that can intimidate the most savvy of sneaker-drop buyers (ahem). The pent-up demand can be seen across TikTok (content) now, with everyone wondering: How and when did I become so obsessed with getting this little monster and when will enough be enough? 

Is this likely to go the way of Beanie Babies? Probably. But in the moments where joy can be scarce, let’s just try to have a little fun and not be afraid to be a fan. 

My actual work bag. (Photo credit: Thas Naseemuddeen, used with permission)

Thas Naseemuddeen is the CEO of indie agency Omelet.