Many of the limited edition L.O.L. Surprise dolls are inspired by celebrities and famous figures from pop culture, including characters such as Lady Gaga, American drag queen RuPaul, Marilyn Monroe, Beyoncé, and many more. These characters are often released in limited editions to increase their appeal, exclusivity, and desirability (Kim & Kim, 2020). This is a tactic often used by the company. For example in 2023, in response to the Barbie movie that generated strong word of mouth, announced a brand partnership with Kylie Jenner, one of the sisters of the Kardashian-Jenner family, entrepreneur, influencer, and founder of the Kylie Cosmetics brand (MGA Entertainment, 2023).
Drag Race: The LOL Surprise Doll Inspired by American Drag Queen Ru Paul
https://lolsurprise.fandom.com/wiki/Drag_Racer
These items all come in limited editions and are marketed as ‘highly collectible’(MGA Entertainment, 2023). Collecting items drawn from pop culture has become a popular practice, with about a third of adults doing it (Pearce, 1998). Many fans, for example, choose to show their support through collecting or purchasing products related to movies or singers. In addition to satisfying the consumer, this practice allows them to feel involved in shaping a social narrative, actively participating in the creation of popular cultural capital, and transmitting the history of the object through generations. In other cases, the decision to collect objects may be driven by a deeper need to build and shape oneself, to showcase a relationship between the material world and one's subjectivity, to find a place in society, to demonstrate one's uniqueness, and to find a refuge from contemporary "fast capitalism" (Wang, 2020).
In addition, these collectibles series are aimed at a specific market segment that the company refers to as: "kidult"(MGA Entertainment, 2023). This term is a combination of "kids" and “adults", and represents the social trend typical of post-modernity where people in their 30s and 40s still behave with many childish and infantilist attitudes. Following the depiction given by Bernardini (2014) his behavior is characterised by impetus over reflection, dependency, doubt, instability, instant pleasure over the search for stability and certainty in life. The life of this social archetype is without any sort of obligation, lived day by day without a sort of planning, and characterised by presumption, narcissism, and irrationality (Bernardini, 2014). His inclination towards this infantilism stems from a series of cultural and social phenomena that coincide with the advent of postmodernism. All of these have contributed to a total and generalised disbelief and deep insecurity in society and in oneself.
According to Wang (2023), the habit of collecting can function as an attempt to protect oneself from a neurotic reality and to calm one's feelings and emotions about the present through the perpetuation of the past (Wang, 2023).
Discover all the LOL Surprise Celebrities Inspired Here: LOL Surprise Celebrity Inspired