What’s the Hype?
Students investigate how Labubu became a global craze, why collectors keep buying and how to create the next big product idea.
- Level
- B2 / Upper Intermediate
- Time
- 80–90 min
- Format
- Video Lesson / Speaking Class
Lesson materials
Choose the resource you want to use in class.
Lesson overview
This B2 lesson uses a CNBC Make It report about the global Labubu craze to explore how consumer trends grow and why people keep buying collectible products. Students follow five short viewing spans, examining social-media hype, celebrity attention, character collecting, blind boxes, rarity, limited supply and possible future problems.
Students then develop useful language for explaining causes, contributing factors and consequences. In the final speaking task, students invent a product or app, choose three Hype Toolkit strategies and pitch how their idea could go viral and stay popular.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students can:
Understand the main ideas and key details in sections of an authentic current-affairs report.
Use vocabulary connected with collecting, hype, scarcity and consumer trends.
Identify several factors that can contribute to a product craze.
Use a range of B2 expressions to explain causes, contributing factors and consequences.
Use evidence from a video report to make a cautious prediction about a consumer trend.
Design and pitch a product or app using strategies that could create hype.
Teaching at a glance
The essentials for planning this lesson.
- Level
- B2 / Upper Intermediate
- Teaching time
- 80–90 min
- Language
- Vocabulary · Functional Language · Advanced Lexis · Stance
- Skills
- Listening · Speaking · Critical Thinking
- Topic
- Lifestyle · Media · Culture
- Format
- Video Lesson · Speaking Class · Functional Language
Lesson structure
A practical sequence from warm-up to final task.
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01 The Hype Begins
Students explore possible drivers of a consumer craze and watch how Labubu gained international attention.
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02 Why People Keep Buying
Students investigate collecting, blind boxes and scarcity, then develop language for explaining causes and consequences.
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03 Create the Next Craze
Students evaluate possible problems, then invent a product or app and pitch three strategies for making it go viral and stay popular.
Lesson materials
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