As I scroll through the world news while drafting this piece, I cannot help but feel a twinge of absurdity about my chosen topic. With so much chaos unfolding globally, why am I choosing to unpack the bizarre, wide-grinned Labubu figures? The answer, oddly enough, lies in that very absurdity. There’s something fascinating about our attraction to the trivial.
The countless reels of people, not just children, unboxing Labubu figures begs the question: What’s behind the obsession with this eerie looking, not-even-cute, large eyed, pointy ear, and an impish expression creatures? For one, you are not buying just the toy, but the surprise. The phenomena created by Pop Mart is that Labubu toys come in blind boxes. The surprise of not knowing what you’ll get heighten anticipation.
“Surprise, surprise, the unexpected hits you between the eyes” sang Cilla Black forty years ago, as the running theme for Surprise, Surprise! A popular ITV show hosted by the Liverpudlian herself in the 1980s and 1990s. There the surprise was of another nature.
The thrill of surprise lies in the excitement of the unknown for the Labubu collectables. The sheer joy of not knowing what you’ll get. The real spectacle isn’t the toy itself, but the unwrapping. This isn’t new for today’s children. For over a decade, children have been glued to YouTube, watching other children unwrap gifts.
Just like in my childhood, surprise eggs delivered a double dose of dopamine, not just from the chocolate, but from the thrill of the hidden toy inside. The real magic wasn’t in the sweet treat, but in the mystery. That moment of discovery was the real prize.
At its core, surprise consumption turns buying into a game. The act of purchase becomes a kind of lottery, a low-stakes gamble that blends entertainment with consumption. Sociologically, this mirrors broader shifts in capitalism, where the line between commerce and play is increasingly blurred. Shopping isn’t just about acquisition anymore; it’s about experience, suspense, and story.
Surprise heightens anticipation. Neuroscientific research shows that unpredictability can increase dopamine responses and marketers know it. Sociologically, this taps into the logic of deferred gratification, but flips it: instead of waiting for a known reward, consumers chase the unknown. The value isn’t just in the object, but in the feeling of not knowing what the object is until the very end. This is consumption as suspense narrative.
This element of surprise is very much in line with what digital platforms provide. They all deliver surprise via algorithm, serving content you didn’t know you wanted until it appeared. It’s a carefully calibrated randomness that flatters our uniqueness while maintaining our engagement.
Ironically, surprise-based consumption may offer a sense of control in a world that feels increasingly chaotic. Choosing to be surprised, through a lucky dip or a Labubu blind box is a way of staging unpredictability in a safe, low-risk environment. It’s chaos in a box, manageable and pleasurable.
The Labubu is an interesting sociological case of how capitalism reinvents desire and turns buying into a narrative, so important that you feel you need to record it and share it online. In a world overshadowed by uncertainty, these oddly shaped collectibles offer a strange kind of escape. Labubu figures, embody what sociologists call alienation through consumption. The act of buying and unboxing Labubu is a form of distraction and detachment. This consumption almost becomes a form of emotional anaesthesia. We shield ourselves by focusing on curiosity, novelty, and the unfamiliar.
If we stretch it far we can say it’s a kind of emotional numbness; “I’ve become comfortably numb.” That iconic line from Pink Floyd’s 1979 classic The Wall capturing the song’s core: numbness, disconnection, and emotional detachment, where pain is dulled but so is feeling. Maybe I’m reading too much into the Labubu dolls. Perhaps they’re just eerie toys meant for innocent fun. Maybe their unpacking is simply meant only literally not academically. But their strange allure and the thrill they spark can’t be separated from the unsettling backdrop of today’s world news.
Prof. Valerie Visanich is an Associate Professor in Sociology