“Let’s go grab some matcha boba. I just need another Labubu. Sorry, can I post this to my story?”
The rebranding of ethnic culture into hot new trends is a phenomenon nothing less than extremely harmful. Social media has long been infamous for taking fashion, food and traditions of other cultures—turning them into another trendy thing to post to your Instagram story.
Take for example the “spa water” controversery. In 2022, Gracie Norton, a TikToker, posted a recipe of her making “spa water” while failing to mention that it was actually a Mexican drink called agua fresca. She took credit for its invention, and rebranded into just another trendy health drink for every other wellness influencer to parrot.
This is just one example of cultural appropriation, but this issue is not new, nor has it stopped. The recent resurgence of matcha tea can be seen from any popular cáfe, social media posts, and the “performative male” trend are only a couple of reasons for its recent rise to popularity once again. But the bigger culprit is that the vibrant green makes it a naturally aesthetic drink, the entrance of east Asian culture into the mainstream, as well as health influencers boasting about all the claims of benefits that come from drinking it. These all have plummeted the global matcha supply, leading to shortages of it everywhere. This took a culturally significant drink from east Asian culture, ruining the supply chain and throwing it away immediately after for whatever drink starts trending on “For You” pages again. Another major culprit are the “Buddha girl bangles” which have seen a sudden surge in availability. The originals were bangles native to Asian culture, rebranded into marketable, cheap jewelry sold solely for profit.
Lastly, Labubu dolls have been starting to rise in popularity. The Chinese based company, Pop Mart, sells dolls called “Labubus.” While these are clearly mirroring the 2010’s trend of Pillow Pet it shows how it is just another symptom of overconsumption. The major problem is that after the dolls make their rounds on social media, they will inevitably end up in landfills, furthering the already difficult climate crisis. Some would argue that, “it’s not that deep,” but they fail to realize just how problematic this is. Cultural appropriation has always been a major issue, and social media has only made it worse. The ability to post anything, anywhere, at any time has made it that much easier to turn something trending without giving credit to the original creator. The gentrification of ethnic culture starts cultural erasure, which is close to erasing part of an entire ethnic group’s identity. Colonization should not be allowed to progress any further.
