THE CELEBRATION OF LABUBU: OBSESSION, GLORIFICATION AND DOMESTICATION IN INDIRECT MEDIA FRAMING
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJLGC.1144013Keywords:
Indirect Media Framing, Labubu, Malaysian News Portals, Media Framing, Toy CrazeAbstract
Toys are often adored because of their cuteness and aesthetic value. However, this expectation shifted when Labubu entered the toy market. With its unconventional aesthetics and sometimes repulsive, alien-like appearance, Labubu took the world by storm, becoming one of the most sought-after items in the toy industry. From laypeople to celebrities, Labubu made its way into bags as plush toys and into social media feeds as attention-grabbing content. Labubu’s popularity is often attributed to star power and effective marketing strategies. However, this paper argues that beyond these factors, the media also played a pivotal role in fuelling its sustained popularity. By examining the framework of media framing, particularly indirect media framing, this paper highlights the unexpected consequences of media practices, where Labubu’s popularity emerged as an indirect result of media framing in Malaysia. This paper presents a retrospective cultural analysis of the rise and discursive consolidation of Labubu in Malaysian media between 2024 and 2025, a period identified as the zenith of its cultural visibility. By analysing 30 Labubu-related headlines from various English news portals in Malaysia across three categories, Obsession, Glorification, and Domestication. This paper shows how indirect media framing contributes to Labubu’s rising popularity. The findings suggest that media framing has the power to generate publicity even when the exposure is not necessarily positive. When such framing occurs frequently and repeatedly, it can sustain the popularity of subjects being framed, even when this is not the intended purpose. Hence, in the case of Labubu, indirect media framing is shown to be just as impactful as direct media framing, despite being less frequently examined.
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