When Labubu dolls transform into a protest symbol

I was surprised to see Labubus, the mega-popular toy monsters with Puck-like grins, staring at me in the crowd at anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles in June.

- Jackie Mansky

Some were in the periphery, hanging off purses and phones. Others were intentional symbols of protest, their quixotic expressions drawn on flyers and posters that called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to get out of LA.

The Labubu toy empire, well on its way to becoming a billion-dollar business this year, is the latest in a long line of collectable crazes, whose goal is to get you to buy endless variations of branded product — gotta catch ‘em all, as Pokémon put it. Yet here these vinyl-and-plush personifications of commodification were, pressed alongside Angelenos who'd taken to the streets to protest masked federal agents abducting their families, friends, and neighbours.

Back in the 1970s, the poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron warned that “the revolution will not be televised.” What does it mean if the revolution has become, for lack of a better word, Labubu-ised?

Labubus are not the first mass-produced character to show up at a protest. Following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, SpongeBob SquarePants, the porous and yellow Nickelodeon property, became a common sight in Egypt and neighbouring countries. “Is SpongeBob SquarePants the New Che Guevara?” Vice asked as SpongeBob merchandise proliferated.