What is Labubu Doll? Cute Dolls That are Viral Among the Ages

The popularity of an item often starts from uploads by celebrities, either intentionally or unintentionally. One of the topics of conversation among the ages is the Labubu doll. This doll is furry with long ears like a rabbit and has become a must-have collectible item for some people.

Labubu is an elf character created by Hong Kong-born Belgian artist Kasing Lung. The character is characterized by long, pointy ears, a mischievous smile, and sharp teeth. As reported by Lifestyle Asia, Labubu is part of “The Monsters,” a group of characters inspired by Norse fairy tales. The character is featured in several items sold by Pop Mart, a Chinese toy company.

The Labubu character was introduced in 2015. It was only in 2019 that Lung made an exclusive licensing agreement with Pop Mart so that the character of “The Monster” was translated from a storybook into a toy.

It is popular for various reasons, one of which was uploaded by Lisa Blackpink via her social media account in April 2024. At that time, the Blackpink rapper shared a video hugging a Labubu doll via her Instagram story. “The emergence of the Labubu plushie was mainly due to an organic post by Lisa from Blackpink earlier this year (2024),” said Pop Mart International’s Head of Strategic Partnerships, Kevin Zhang, as reported by Tatler Asia.

He added, that after Lisa uploaded it, Labubu became popular because it became an online meme, and then several celebrities and Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) in Thailand hunted it down to collect it. Model and actor Mario Maurer and actress Janjira Janpitakchai are some of them. Because of its popularity, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office of Thailand, Puangpet Chunlaiad issued a warning to the public to be careful of fake dolls. (KMU/ND)