Soft Toys, Hard Times: The Labubu as Proof of a Burnout Generation

TengTeng Ho
07.03.2026

A mischievous toy with nine razor-sharp triangular teeth, piercing oversized eyes, and fluorescent fluffy fur clawed its way into global pop culture. Inspired by Nordic mythology, this cross-cultural collectible item was officially launched in 2015 by Pop Mart in collaboration with Hong Kong designer Kasing Lung as part of his series The Monsters. With its shaggy fur and slightly twitchy eyes, these creatures roam around fuzzy, stylised, hallucinatory dreamscapes where good and evil co-exist.

Pop Mart, now the leading cultural and entertainment company in China, reached its full commercial potential as an original brand manufacturer that positions intellectual property and creative authorship as cultural assets. 1 A cultural economy known for counterfeit and low-quality production aims to make its great leap forward; from Made in China to Created in China.2 Similarly, other characters such as the more artistic Molly or edgy astronaut Skullpanda – designed respectively by Kenny Wong and Xiong Miao – each possess their own styles and personalities.

Out of this permeability emerges a continuous flow of characters, offering endless possibilities for self-identification. As Zhao Hanbing argues, these characters form an unfathomable para-textual universe with social-media feeds, fan-made stories, and branded pop-up events where the line between commodity and culture increasingly blurs. 3 Analysing the Labubu frenzy opens up a Pandora’s box of contemporary culture; proof of the ways late-capitalism profits from the emotional needs of young consumers in a hyper-active, -anxious, -productive, -consumptive, and deeply burned out society.

In September 2025, the Dutch newspaper ​NRC released an article on Labubu's rise of cuteness ​and its ​underlying​ ​social-cultural​ factors. It mentions Simon May’s book The Power of Cute which explains how after the violence of World War II humans desired to escape to an imagined world of softness, safety and simplicity. 4 A century later, the atrocities are terrifyingly familiar, yet the way global media is consumed and mediated has changed. Uncertainty became a constant in our current era of polycrisis; Trump’s imperialist ambitions, accelerating climate collapses, and ongoing human rights violations In Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Venezuela and other places in the world. A space of simple purity and naïveté does not suffice anymore. Unlike the statements made in NRC, I argue that the Labubu is not another iteration of traditional cuteness, but a toy that strongly embodies the current anxieties it appears to soothe.

Burnout aesthetics

An overlap of crises is tied to exhaustion and burnout, and is, as Sungyun Jung argues, fueled by the absence of clear prospects. 5 Burnout did not originate from a clinical or scholarly discourse but was first regarded as a social phenomenon. Because of the vague and unempirical nature of the term, academics deemed it to be some sort of “pop” psychology. 6 Yet social psychologists Christina Maslach and Ayala Pines sensed that something was ‘in the air’ and, despite scepticism, developed what later would become the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). This caused the shift in discourse from burnout being merely a personal weakness into a systemic organisational issue. 7

In the 1970s, when burnout was first observed among human service professionals, it seemed to occur as a consequence of prolonged occupational stress and a heightened sense of individualisation, leading up to emotional dissociation and frustration. 8 Around the same period, in the early stages of globalised production, Hello Kitty emerged in Japan. This cartoon-character in the shape of a white cat with a bow on her ear offered nostalgic cuteness and softness. Whereas the origins of “cute” lie in the Edo Period (1603-1868) in Japan, derived from the word “acute”, ​which means​​​ to be skillful in a clever and deceitful way, 9 Hello Kitty shifted the meaning of cuteness to a state of powerlessness, obedience and virginity, turning it into a “​quintessential ​feminine ​​characteristic​​​​”.11

Where the Japanese “kimo-kawaii” aesthetic style was the comforting therapist for over-worked citizens in the 1970s, it is the mischievous ugly-cute rebellious monster that serves to sooth today’s burnout generation. Our post-Fordist economy archetypes the worker as a highly adaptable, polyvalent personality, that meets life to live just-in-time. 11 A study shows that since 2018, due to a heightened job insecurity and the demand for perpetual flexibility, burnout symptoms among young Dutch workers increased with 20,8%.12 The ambivalent, physical characteristics of Labubu mirror these emotional instabilities. Coolness is no longer associated with softness and polished perfection, but rather with a fun, rough and sharp imperfection. 13 Unlike its predecessor Hello Kitty, Labubu’s appearances do not conceal imperfection, they openly perform it.

Capitalising on burnout: stimulation without satisfaction

A generation defined by anxiety, hyperactivity and a constant obsession ​for​​​ authenticity has produced new frameworks of exploitation. Research indicates that 80.9% of consumers' key driving force to buy a Labubu is based on stress reduction and receiving emotional fulfillment. 14 Symptoms of late-capitalism and a hyper-flexible, precarious labor market stimulate the compulsion to buy affordable luxury objects. This psychological coping mechanism is also called the “lipstick effect”. 15 At the same time, an ever-increasing exhaustion indicates the illusion of this effect. Neither cute nor ugly-cute objects offer a way to soothe burnout.

Another degree of proof is​ reflected in the applied sales strategy, namely through mystery blind boxes, which prevent consumers from knowing in advance which Labubu they will receive. ​​Viral unboxing videos show ​people hysterically shaking ​boxes​ ​​up and down to​​ get a glimpse of what might be inside. In Liquid Modernity, Zygmunt Bauman explains how a fluid society uses consumerism to navigate one’s identity. It is in a world of endless opportunities that taming the unexpected becomes the entertainment itself. 16 Labubu’s sales strategy also mirrors current patterns in modern ​​romance, ​such as ​those charming unpredictable situationships, in which many young people gravitate towards short-term rewards and transactional emotional exchanges.​​ The thrill lies in the discomfort of being slightly unsettled.

Buying a Labubu blindly fuels the body with anxious anticipation, ironically offering relief from the dreading uncertainty of life. A purchase that is casual, unexpected and spontaneous has the quality of a wish-like thirst: one that is expressive yet inherently insincere and child-like. 17 The unknown and unpredictable nature of the purchase become plausible proof of our addiction to stimuli but ​also ​express​ an undercurrent form of apathy. This is reflected in the “whatever” attitude towards consumption, which is in turn a quiet rebellion against the scary pressures of adulthood. Therefore, Labubu is more than just a collectible item: it reflects a generation caught in the desire for personal sovereignty, while feeling constrained by the expectations of its social environment.

In The Burnout Society, Byung-Chul Han states that the notion of freedom within a neoliberal system does not exist: we have become both victims and perpetrators of self-exploitation. Anxiety and ego are being capitalised upon, fostering a dependence on objects for recognition. This manifests itself in hours-long waiting-time queues and chaotic chases for a plush toy item. It is when the Labubu finally dangles from your bag or silently accompanies you in the bedroom that its presence offers a hollow sense of relief – real, symbolic, or perhaps somewhere in-between.


_____
TengTeng Ho aims to challenge the dominant creative paradigms through a critical and holistic lens. While currently pursuing the master Design Culture at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, her work centers on dismantling Eurocentric neoliberal frameworks and fostering spaces that embrace plurality across communities.
_____
This article was first published in printed issue of Platform Pudding #1, centered on the theme of proof and published in March 2026.

Notes

1. Wu Yan, “The Rhetorical Criticism of the Fantasy Theme in Blind Box Consumption: Taking Pop Mart’s Labubu Series Blind Boxes as an Example,” US-China Foreign Language 23, no. 6 (2025): 1–5, accessed [01.12.2025], https://doi.org/10.17265/1539-8080/2025.06.003.
2. Michael A. Keane, “From Made in China to Created in China,” International Journal of Cultural Studies 9, no. 3 (2006): 285–296,.
3. Zhao Hanbing, Cultural Strategy and Identity Construction in Chinese Emerging Brands’ Global Expansion: The Case of Pop Mart (master’s thesis, Lund University, Department of Strategic Communication, 2015), https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=9203080&fileOId=9203092.
4. Kelli Van der Waals, “Cute is overal: schattig, maar met scherpe tandjes,” NRC, September 26, 2025.
5. Sungyun Jung, “2026 is the New 2016, and That Should Worry Us,” The Daily Cardinal, January 22, 2026, https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2026/01/2026‑is‑the‑new‑2016‑and‑that‑should‑worry‑us.
6. Wilmar Schaufeli and Dirk Enzmann, The Burnout Companion to Study and Practice: A Critical Analysis, 1st ed. (London: CRC Press, 2020),.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Joshua Paul Dale, Joyce Goggin, Julia Leyda, Anthony P. McIntyre, and Diane Negra, eds., The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness (New York: Routledge, 2016).
10. Brian J. McVeigh, “Hello Kitty, Japan (Yūko Shimizu for Sanrio, 1974),” in Iconic Designs: 50 Stories about 50 Things, ed. Grace Lees-Maffei (London: Bloomsbury, 2014), 278–282.
11. Michael Rustin, “The Politics of Post-Fordism: Or, the Trouble with ‘New Times,’” New Left Review, May 1989, 54–77,.
12. Rudi Wielers, Lisa Hummel, and Peter van der Meer, “Career Insecurity and Burnout Complaints of Young Dutch Workers,” Journal of Education and Work 35, no. 2 (2021): 227–40.
13. Hanbing, Cultural Strategy and Identity Construction in Chinese Emerging Brands’ Global Expansion: The Case of Pop Mart, 2015.
14. Yang, Simin, and Bo Li. 2025. “Study on Labubu Explosion Phenomenon and Consumption Driving Mechanisms.” Economics & Business Management 2, no. 2: 52–60.
15. Ibid.
16. Zygmunt Bauman, Liquid Modernity (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000), 62.
17. Zygmunt Bauman, Liquid Modernity (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000), 76.

Bibliography

Bauman, Zygmunt. 2000. Liquid Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Dale, Joshua Paul, Joyce Goggin, Julia Leyda, Anthony P. McIntyre, and Diane Negra, eds. 2016. The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness. Routledge.
Dudarenok, Ashley. 2025. “Generation Imperfect Finds Its Voice in ‘Ugly Cute.’” Jing Daily, October 18, 2025. https://jingdaily.com/posts/generation-imperfect-finds-its-voice-in-ugly-cute
Han, Byung-Chul. 2015. The Burnout Society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Hanbing, Zhao. 2015. “Cultural Strategy and Identity Construction in Chinese Emerging Brands’ Global Expansion: The Case of Pop Mart.” Master’s thesis, Lund University, Department of Strategic Communication. https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=9203080&fileOId=9203092
Jung, Sungyun. 2026. “2026 is the New 2016, and That Should Worry Us.” The Daily Cardinal, January 22, 2026. https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2026/01/2026-is-the-new-2016-and-that-should-worry-us
Keane, Michael A. 2006. “From Made in China to Created in China.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 9 (3): 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877906066875
McVeigh, Brian J. 2014. “Hello Kitty, Japan (Yūko Shimizu for Sanrio, 1974).” In Iconic Designs: 50 Stories about 50 Things, edited by Grace Lees-Maffei, xx–xx. London: Bloomsbury.
Rustin, Michael. 1989. “The Politics of Post-Fordism: Or, the Trouble with ‘New Times.’” New Left Review, May, 54–77. https://doi.org/10.64590/ir1
.Schaufeli, Wilmar, and Dirk Enzmann. 2020. The Burnout Companion to Study and Practice: A Critical Analysis. 1st ed. London: CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003062745
Van der Waals, Kelli. 2025. “Cute is overal: schattig, maar met scherpe tandjes.” NRC, September 26, 2025.
.Wielers, Rudi, Lisa Hummel, and Peter van der Meer. 2021. “Career Insecurity and Burnout Complaints of Young Dutch Workers.” Journal of Education and Work 35 (2): 227–40.
Wu, Yan. 2025. “The Rhetorical Criticism of the Fantasy Theme in Blind Box Consumption: Taking Pop Mart’s Labubu Series Blind Boxes as an Example.” US-China Foreign Language 23 (6): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.17265/1539-8080/2025.06.003