It all started with a photograph of Lisa from mega K-pop girl band Blackpink, carrying a bag with an “ugly” doll accessory strapped to her bag. The demand for Labubu exploded to epic proportions thereafter and the craze has led to thousands of dollars spent – and sometimes lost through scams. Labubu isn’t the first (remember Hello Kitty?) and it certainly won’t be the last. So why is it that “cute” sells so well? Andrea Heng and Hairianto Diman speak to Dr Joshua Paul Dale, Professor, Department of British and American Literature Culture, Chuo University, to find out more.

WGN Morning News Chicago guest appearance:

How our brains are wired to gravitate toward cuteness

Cute Ecologies: an online recorded seminar.

The big idea: why do we find cuteness so hard to resist?

A video about the new academic field of Cute Studies.

A lesson for TED-Ed on the science of cuteness.

An online reading group for the Aww-Struck: Creative and Critical Approaches to Cuteness, 8 December 2021.