Introduction: This post is the investigative companion guide to “The Labubu File: A Chinese Toy Story” from the ‘Mandarin Unpeeled’ podcast. If you haven’t listened yet, I recommend starting there and following us for the full 6-part series. 🔗🤩
🎧👂🏼Listen on Spotify here
The Cultural Archaeology of a Phenomenon
When you’ve lived half your life in China and half outside, you develop a kind of double vision. You read stories in both languages, absorb both cultural narratives, see both perspectives.
And you start spotting the gaps.
One of those gaps? Labubu- of course.
Open any Western business publication today and you’ll see the same neat explanation of Pop Mart’s success: blind boxes, celebrity collabs, savvy social media.
All true.
All… insufficient.
As a cross-cultural marketing strategist turned journalist, I can’t help but think that something’s missing: I’ve seen many brands trying the exact same tactics — and most flop.
This is a commercial whodunit begging to be solved. 🕵🏻♀️
After reading article after article without scratching that itch of why, I started realizing what’s missing in most mainstream media coverage.
Context.
The historical, cultural, and psychological forces that made Pop Mart’s rise not just possible — but inevitable.
To understand the brand’s commercial success, we must go beyond the surface and unpack these hidden forces. 🔋🔌
Over the next few episodes, we’re going archaeological. Each layer reveals something new:
How generational, platform and psychological factors converged to create the perfect storm for Popmart’s early rise 🌪️📈🧠
Why China’s mobile games craze might have much to do with Labubu’s success today 🎮🇨🇳✨
How a nameless white cat helped light the fuse 🐱💥
The ‘empty vessel’ theory, Buddhism, and the Popmart ideology 🕉️🌀
An 2014 advertising campaign that broke the Internet and echoed how a generation view work and play 📺🌐💼🎉
Behind the transition from China’s Disney to The World’s Popmart.. 🎢🌏🏰
Is Popmart and Labubu a long game, or…a fad? 🤔⌛⚡
This week’s Mandarin Unpeeled episode is the first in a six-part series investigating Pop Mart, Labubu, and what they reveal about how we live and play. If you’ve ever wondered how a pastel vinyl figure REALLY became a $12,000 obsession — this commercial whodunit series is for you.
Subscribe to never miss an episode of the investigation. And if you have friends who love a good commercial mystery, share this with them—the more perspectives, the clearer the picture becomes.
Want more pulp? Here’s how to get it:
📩 Subscribe on → Substack
🍊 Instagram → @mandarin_unpeeled
💬 Bluesky → @mandarin-unpeeled.bsky.social
🎙️ Podcast Homepage → www.mandarin-unpeeled.com
🌏 About Mandarin Unpeeled: Bite-sized explainers that unwrap how China really thinks, feels, and evolves, and how it is already impacting you — told by someone who’s lived, studied, and worked across both East and West.
