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Labubu dolls have taken the world by storm. The viral collectable keychains that feature plush monster-like figurines, sold by the Chinese company Pop Mart, have been compared to other toys like Beanie Babies or the more recent Sonny Angels. Labubus come in a variety of colors and outfits, and they are sold in “blind boxes” — so customers never know which collectibles they will get when they buy them.
The meteoric ascent of these toys raises the question: What exactly is the appeal of Labubus? According to Tianxin Zou, Ph.D., an assistant professor of marketing in the University of Florida Warrington College of Business, there are a few reasons behind Pop Mart’s success.
“It’s a little bit like buying a lottery ticket,” Zou said about the blind box concept. “The uncertainty is giving another layer of enjoyment.” Zou compares the psychological experience of blind boxes to gambling, stating that some customers buy hundreds of boxes for the chance at winning big.
Customers aren’t just buying the products; they’re buying the experience. Each Labubu release features 12 figurine designs, as well as a much rarer secret design, so customers are enticed by the possibility of getting that one rare doll. This can also come with monetary value, as Labubus have been resold for thousands of dollars on platforms like eBay. Recently, a first-generation Labubu toy sold for $150,000 in a Labubu-specific auction.
The unboxing experience can also trigger social interaction. People often film themselves unboxing the products and posting the experiences online for millions to see, or they gather in person to open boxes with their friends. This brings people together, forming a sense of community and identity around Labubu ownership.
“Unboxing the blind box together can become a joyful event,” Zou said. “It makes it so Labubu has a social value and can help form friendships.” The rarity of certain designs is also a key factor in the social aspect of Labubus. Within these communities, especially online, owning rare designs can become a form of social capital. This has contributed to the rise of “Lafufus,” or fake Labubu dolls sold by retailers separate from Pop Mart. The craze has become less about the item itself and more about what it represents socially. Even if a keychain is fake, it still shows that the owner is socially in the know.
Pop Mart also aligns itself with well-known franchises, such as Star Wars and Marvel, for branded blind box designs. And celebrity interest has helped the popularity of Labubus skyrocket. The toy first gained momentum after it was seen on the bag of Lisa, a member of the K-pop group Blackpink. Since then, Labubus have been spotted on the bags and belt loops of public figures ranging from Rihanna to Tom Brady. Zou explains that this furthers the social impact of the toys, as people aim to replicate celebrities’ style.
“This collaboration with celebrities gives Pop Mart synergy, which gives it this stronger social effect,” Zou said. While the success of Labubus may seem spontaneous, it is actually the result of highly strategic business strategies. However, other retailers are catching on, providing competition for Pop Mart as more companies enter the blind box game. The retailer also faces new challenges, with countries like China and Singapore creating regulations for the sale of blind boxes, especially to children. But for now, the monsters continue to dominate the market, giving the company time to formulate new strategies. And because the company’s strength lies in its research and planning, it likely will not be going into its next phase blind.
In an era of name, image and likeness, or NIL, many college athletes are thinking differently about who they are — seeing themselves not just as competitors or students, but also as influencers with distinct voices and causes, according to a new study from the University of Florida.
Molly Harry, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Sport Management at the UF College of Health and Human Performance, surveyed 200 athletes from 21 Power Four universities to better understand how NIL, which refers to the rights of college athletes to earn money through endorsements, sponsorships, social media promotions and other commercial opportunities, has impacted the way athletes perceive their roles and identities.
“Historically, we’ve viewed them (college athletes) through the lens of athletics or academics, but they’re daughters, brothers, role models, and increasingly, they’re now cultivating public personas and marketing skills.” —Molly Harry, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Sport Management The findings, published Friday in the Sociology of Sport Journal, reveal a growing recognition among athletes that they are more than the two-dimensional “student-athlete” model that is traditionally used in research and policy.
“With the shift in NIL policies, athletes are starting to develop roles and identities related to that of the influencer,” Harry said. “Historically, we’ve viewed them through the lens of athletics or academics, but they’re daughters, brothers, role models, and increasingly, they’re now cultivating public personas and marketing skills.” Through survey responses across seven major sports — football, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, gymnastics, volleyball and softball — Harry and UF doctoral student Hannah Kloetzer examined athletes' engagement with NIL opportunities, as well as the personal sacrifices they made to pursue them. They found that many athletes now view NIL as a platform to promote causes they care about, build connections with their communities and explore career pathways after college.
One softball player described the value of NIL in a way that highlights the broader impact: “It’s been great to feel seen and have your hard work in a sport help in other parts of life. It’s really nice to use NIL on a resume as marketing experience.”
Athletes surveyed said they found deals not just with big-name brands, but more often with local businesses like restaurants, boutiques and community partners. This entrepreneurial approach often required initiative and personal outreach, something many athletes had to learn on their own.
“Some athletes told us they felt lost when trying to navigate NIL,” Harry said. “Others shared how they reached out to local businesses or organized their own camps.” One particularly striking finding, Harry said, was that some athletes were making athletic sacrifices — like spending less time training — to pursue NIL work, a shift that underscores the importance of these opportunities. Harry stressed that while no one reported skipping practices, athletes did acknowledge shifting their priorities to make room for NIL-related endeavors.
“If you’re willing to give up something in your athletic routine, that speaks volumes about how central NIL — and influencer identities — could become for some athletes,” she said. Another key insight: football players of color from low socioeconomic backgrounds were most likely to self-identify as influencers. This emerging pattern stands in contrast to perceived broader trends in the social media world.
“That was one of the most fascinating takeaways,” Harry said. “We have this unique subset of influencers — college football athletes — that are starting to enter this space.” Harry’s research builds on a growing conversation in the academic community about the evolving identity of college athletes. A few conceptual pieces have previously proposed the idea of a “student-athlete-influencer,” but Harry’s team is one of the first to gather empirical data to back it up.
This new perspective has broad implications for how universities and organizations like the NCAA support college athletes, both during their playing years and as they prepare for life after sport.
“As fans, we often see athletes as commodities on the field,” Harry said. “But they’re humans first, and they’re starting to recognize their own value and tap into their potential beyond the playing field.” In addition to academic and athletic support, Harry believes universities should invest in more targeted resources tailored to influencer pressures, like mentorship opportunities and training that goes beyond basic social media etiquette.
“Athletes who take on influencer roles may deal with unique stressors, whether it’s comparing engagement numbers or coping with public scrutiny,” she said. “It would be valuable to provide opportunities where athlete-influencers can support each other, share strategies and protect their mental health.” A football player who participated in the study summed up the broader potential of NIL: “I’m very appreciative of NIL opportunities and the ability to continue to grow my camp and greater brand outside of my football program.”
Looking ahead, Harry plans to explore this evolving identity through more qualitative research, with a focus on what it truly means to be an “influencer” in the context of college athletics.
“Athletes are more than football players. They are more than swimmers,” she said. “They are people who we walk with on our college campuses, and they are people who bring value to our society in a host of ways.”
New research on the rocks collected by China's Chang'e 5 mission is rewriting our understanding of how the moon cooled. Stephen Elardo, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Geological Sciences with the University of Florida, has found that lava on the near side of the moon likely came from a much shallower depth than previously thought, contradicting previous theories on how the moon produced lavas through time.
These samples of basalt, an igneous rock made up of rapidly cooled lava, were collected from the near side of the moon by the Chang’e 5 mission and are the youngest samples collected on any lunar mission, making them an invaluable resource for those studying the geological history of the moon.
In order to get an estimate of how deep within the moon the Chang’e 5 lava came from, the team conducted high-pressure and high-temperature experiments on a synthetic lava with an identical composition. Previous work from Chinese scientists has determined that the lava erupted about 2 billion years ago and remote sensing from orbit has showed it erupted in an area with very high abundances of potassium, thorium and uranium on the surface, all of which are radioactive and produce heat. Scientists believe that, in large amounts, these elements generate enough heat to keep the moon hot near the surface, slowing the cooling process over time.
“Using our experimental results and thermal evolution calculations, we put together a simple model showing that an enrichment in radioactive elements would have kept the Moon's upper mantle hundreds of degrees hotter than it would have been otherwise, even at 2 billion years ago,” explained Elardo. These findings contradict the previous theory that the temperature of the moon’s outer portions was too low to support melting of the shallow interior by that time and may challenge the hypothesis about how the moon cooled. Prior to this study, the generally-accepted theory was that the moon cooled from the top down. It was presumed that the mantle closer to the surface cooled first as the surface of the moon gradually lost heat to space, and that younger lavas like the one collected by Chang’e 5 must have come from the deep mantle where the moon would still be hot. This theory was backed by data from seismometers placed during the Apollo moon landings, but these findings suggest that there were still pockets of shallow mantle hot enough to partially melt even late into the moon’s cooling process.
“Lunar magmatism, which is the record of volcanic activity on the moon, gives us a direct window into the composition of the Moon's mantle, which is where magmas ultimately come from,” said Elardo. “We don't have any direct samples of the Moon's mantle like we do for Earth, so our window into the composition of the mantle comes indirectly from its lavas.” Establishing a detailed timeline of the moon’s evolution represents a critical step towards understanding how other celestial bodies form and grow. Processes like cooling and geological
layer formation are key steps in the “life cycles” of other moons and small planets. As our closest neighbor in the solar system, the moon offers us our best chance of learning about these processes.
“My hope is that this study will lead to more work in lunar geodynamics, which is a field that uses complex computer simulations to model how planetary interiors move, flow, and cool through time,” said Elardo. “This is an area, at least for the moon, where there's a lot of uncertainty, and my hope is that this study helps to give that community another important data point for future models.”
