The leadership at Pop Mart, the Chinese company that produces the dolls, will have been gratified by resulting spike in its share price. But this success seems short-lived. On Chinese social media, Cook’s enthusiasm was received with wry amusement: His doll was dubbed “Timbubu” and “Lakuku.” And in the West, the endorsement of an aging tech titan is more likely to be a kiss of death than a spur for sales.

It is just possible that posterity will mark Oct. 13 as peak Labubu. At a Shanghai exhibition celebrating the 10th anniversary of the plush toy, Apple CEO Tim Cook posed for the cameras with a custom doll bearing his signature black turtleneck and glasses. “I’m putting it right on my desk,” he told China Daily .

It is just possible that posterity will mark Oct. 13 as peak Labubu. At a Shanghai exhibition celebrating the 10th anniversary of the plush toy, Apple CEO Tim Cook posed for the cameras with a custom doll bearing his signature black turtleneck and glasses. “I’m putting it right on my desk,” he told China Daily.

The leadership at Pop Mart, the Chinese company that produces the dolls, will have been gratified by resulting spike in its share price. But this success seems short-lived. On Chinese social media, Cook’s enthusiasm was received with wry amusement: His doll was dubbed “Timbubu” and “Lakuku.” And in the West, the endorsement of an aging tech titan is more likely to be a kiss of death than a spur for sales.

Still, even if Labubu goes the way of Pet Rock and Tamagotchi, it deserves more than a footnote in the history of toy fads.