China flexes its cuddly clout as Labubu monsters set off a global frenzy

Chinese toymaker Pop Mart's Labubu monster dolls have become a global craze. They bare their teeth from the handbags of Rihanna and Dua Lipa and have driven fans to break-ins and brawls as shoppers scramble to get hold of them – breaking new ground for Chinese pop culture.

In 2022, the Financial Times asked Camille Gaujacq, a specialist in Chinese market research, whether the Beijing-based company Pop Mart, which had recently set up shop in London, could meet its goal of making more than 50 percent of its revenue abroad within five years.

Gaujacq was cautious, saying it was hard to know “to what extent a growth model based on stimulating a consumer trend” would work in the West.

Three years on, customers around the world are queuing overnight – and in some cases coming to blows – to buy a Pop Mart-exclusive product: the Labubu.

These half-cute, half-sinister monsters with pointed teeth and bunny ears were created by Hong Kong designer Kasing Lung and inspired by Norwegian folklore. Sold as plush toys, bag charms and figurines, they have become a global hit – along with the chaos that surrounds them.

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In Singapore late last year, CCTV footage showed a family stealing Labubu dolls from a vending machine, according to online media outlet AsiaOne, while The Sun newspaper reported that in California a car was broken into and three Labubu toys that had been on display taken.

French news agency AFP reported in May that Pop Mart had pulled the toys from all 16 of its UK stores to "prevent any potential safety issues" after customers, some of whom had travelled from abroad to purchase the dolls, were involved in physical fights over them.

TikTok (another product of China) has paved the way for their popularity, with more than 1.7 million Labubu videos on the platform. Their celebrity fans include Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, a host of K-pop stars and even David Beckham.

And France is not immune to their charms – in Paris, Pop Mart now has stores in the shopping centres Les Halles de Châtelet, Bercy Village and the Carrousel du Louvre, as well as at Opéra.

The element of surprise

Pop Mart was launched in 2010 by Chinese businessman Wang Ning, 38, who as of this month is China's 10th richest person, with an estimated fortune of $22.7 billion according to Forbes magazine.

A key element of the company's strategy has been to sell Labubu dolls, which it has produced since 2019, in "mystery boxes", with the surprise element and the ensuing obsessive quest for particular models driving sales.

As Filipino newspaper The Inquirer notes: "The Pop Mart product range remains attractive to enthusiasts and collectors, all the more so as some items are becoming harder to find. Blind unboxing has created a vibrant community on social networks, where collectors share their unboxing experiences, stimulating engagement."

The most sought-after models are being resold for exorbitant sums on the second-hand market, and in early June a Labubu figurine sold at auction in Beijing for 1.08 million yuan (€132,000).

Furry ambassadors

Labubus are part of a rising tide of Chinese cultural exports gaining traction abroad, acting as furry ambassadors of a "cool" China even in places where a more negative public opinion of Beijing is usually to be found, such as Europe and North America.

While neighbouring East Asian countries South Korea and Japan are globally recognised for their musical and cinematic contributions to pop culture and their fashion and beauty exports, China's heavily censored film and music industry means it has struggled to attract international audiences. Meanwhile, the country's best-known clothing exporter is fast-fashion online retailer Shein.

Faced with stereotypes of low-quality products, Pop Mart is among the few success stories of Chinese companies selling higher-end, desirable goods under their own brands. "It has been hard for the world's consumers to perceive China as a brand-creating nation," the University of Maryland's Fan Yang told AFP.

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However, China is "undergoing a soft power shift where its products and image are increasingly cool among young Westerners," said Allison Malmsten, an analyst at China-based Daxue Consulting. She believes social media – such as TikTok – is boosting China's global image, and compared the Labubu effect to that of Pokémon on Japan's image abroad.

Joshua Kurlantzick, of the Council on Foreign Relations, agreed that: "TikTok probably played a role in changing consumers' minds about China." 

However, he added that such a change of image could only go so far. "I don't know how much, if at all, this impacts images of China's state or government," he said, pointing to how South Korea's undeniable soft power has not translated into similar levels of political might.

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But while soft toys alone might not translate into actual power, the United States' chaotic global image under the Trump presidency could benefit perceptions of China, the University of Maryland's Yang said.

"The connection many make between the seeming decline of US soft power and the potential rise in China's global image may reflect how deeply intertwined the two countries are in the minds of people whose lives are impacted by both simultaneously," she told AFP.

At the very least, Labubu's charms appear to be prompting interest in China among the younger generation abroad.

"It's like a virus. Everyone just wants it," Kazakhstani mother-of-three Anelya Batalova told AFP at Pop Mart's theme park in Beijing. 

Meanwhile 11-year-old Maryam Hammadi, from Qatar, posed for photos in front of a giant Labubu statue. "In our country, they love Labubu," she said. "So, when they realise that the origin of Labubu is in China, they'd like to come to see the different types of Labubu in China."

Despite its popularity abroad, closer to home there may be some who are not so enamoured of the Labubu. The Bloomberg financial news agency reports that the Chinese Communist Party-backed People's Daily newspaper has published a commentary calling for tougher regulations on "surprise gift boxes” – accusing them of encouraging addiction among children.

Story written with AFP and partially adapted from this article from RFI's French service.