Consumption. We explain the craze for Labubu, the new star stuffed animal on social media.

After the Sonny Angels, those little naked figurines with hats that cling to phones or any other object, it's the Labubu plush toy's turn to send social media and retail outlets into a frenzy. These little figurines with big eyes, bunny ears, and pointy teeth, half cute and half evil, are becoming a social phenomenon that many are snapping up.

They were originally created in 2015 by Kasing Lung, a Hong Kong illustrator behind the children's book series The Monster . The Chinese company Pop Mart, specializing in pop culture and figurines, took over this character in 2019 to make plush toys. Thanks to a well-oiled marketing strategy, the Labubu quickly became a fashion phenomenon. Sold in only a few points of sale and online, this plush costs between 25 and a hundred euros depending on the edition. Its particularity: it is sold in a box without its color being known. New collections are not announced in advance and some are limited edition.

The brand is therefore playing on the element of surprise and chance and on the fear of not being able to get hold of it. And it's working, since thousands of Internet users are filming themselves playing the game of " unboxing " (unwrapping their package) on TikTok or Instagram. Result: queues are forming in front of stores, shelves are out of stock and this simple little plush toy is causing riots, so much so that in the United Kingdom, the sale of these little furry monsters was suspended throughout the country after scenes of fights between customers. In China, the country has regulated this phenomenon by banning the sale to children under eight and requiring parental consent for children up to 16, according to the American television channel CNN .

But it's also with the help of some international stars that the Labubu has changed dimension. Lisa, the star of the South Korean K-pop group BlackPink (also seen in season 3 of The White Lotus ), shared a photo of her luxury handbag with a Labubu dangling from it. Rihanna , Dua Lipa, Central Cee and David Beckham have also shown off with their little plush toys with pointy teeth. It didn't take much more for the Labubu to become an essential fashion accessory for young people... and not so young!

A giant Labubu, just over 130 centimeters tall, even sold for more than 130,000 euros at an auction in China. At the end of April, Wang Ning, the CEO of Pop Mart, which sells the figurines, saw his fortune increase by 1.6 billion in a single day, boosted by the company's growth in the United States, according to Forbes .

The downside: the figurines, which regularly sell out, are being resold at exorbitant prices on second-hand platforms. They're even being copied by fast-fashion giants. Like many viral phenomena that create buying frenzies, this craze calls into question the very ephemeral consumption pattern of this trendy plush toy.