Labubus Are So Third Quarter

Labubus, those bug-eyed, chaotic little toys that became the latest collectible obsession, are already so third quarter. By the time marketing teams put them on a mood board, Gen Z had moved on to something stranger, more ironic, and less easy to package.

The problem isn’t just speed. It’s translation.

Too many brands try to understand Gen Z through trend reports, TikTok think pieces, or whatever’s bubbling up on Pinterest. But culture doesn’t work like that anymore. It’s not a neat wave. It’s a whirlpool. Something goes viral, burns out, and reincarnates all within a fiscal quarter.

The Myth of the Moment

Gen Z doesn’t live in moments. They live in movements. Micro-communities thrive on the constant creation and destruction of meaning. It’s ironic, it’s layered, it’s niche, and it’s often not for you. When Labubu became mainstream, the appeal for many wasn’t the toy itself. It was the absurdity of people taking it seriously.

Listening Instead of Chasing

Instead of chasing the next Labubu, brands should focus on listening. Not the social listening kind that counts hashtags, but cultural listening. Paying attention to the weird corners of the internet, the Discord servers, the in-jokes, the anti-aesthetic. The places where new language, visuals, and values are being forged before they’re sanitised for the algorithm.

The New Currency Is Context

For Gen Z, context is everything. What looks like chaos is actually a layered conversation happening across platforms and subcultures. If you want to connect, don’t ask “what’s trending?” Ask why it’s trending, where it started, and who it was for before it got big.

By the time your quarterly report flags it, it’s already nostalgia.

So What Now?

Be humble. Be curious. And stop pretending you can keep up with everything. The best brands won’t own every trend. They’ll create spaces that let culture move through them.

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Written by Tyler Lowe-Fowler, Associate Art Director at Together Agency