Cute power
A universal language that might just change the world
Kawaii kaiju
Cute is growing teeth.
VML Intelligence’s “Cute power” story explored how cuteness had become a defining aesthetic of contemporary culture, offering comfort, sociability and emotional escape in difficult times. But it also highlighted something less saccharine: cute has always contained ambiguity. Behind the fluffy exterior can sit strangeness, rebellion and even menace. In 2026, that tension is becoming increasingly commercial as younger consumers gravitate toward characters that are adorable precisely because something about them feels slightly wrong.
McDonald’s made the collision explicit in August with its Hello Kitty & Friends x Godzilla Happy Meal. Eight collectibles recast Sanrio characters as classic kaiju: Hello Kitty becomes Godzilla, Kuromi becomes Mechagodzilla and My Melody takes on Mothra. Rather than placing two popular franchises side by side, the collaboration physically merges kawaii and monster aesthetics into the same characters.
The pairing reflects a broader shift away from uncomplicated sweetness. Labubu’s global success has already proved the appeal of the “ugly-cute”: pointed ears, exposed teeth and a mischievous expression have turned the little monster into a fashion accessory, collectible, and increasingly a global entertainment property. In March 2026, Pop Mart and Sony Pictures announced plans for a live-action/CGI Labubu feature film, extending the character from viral toy into an entertainment franchise.
In Vogue Business, creative strategist Parisa Parmar links the popularity of ugly-cute characters to a wider rejection of polished perfection. “In a cultural landscape where we are targeted with ideals of unrealistic perfection, people are seeking alternative aesthetics that embrace unconventional beauty,” she says, pointing to other deliberately awkward fashion phenomena such as dad trainers and Crocs. For gen Z and gen Alpha, character can be more compelling than conventional beauty; weirdness gives an object personality, meme potential and something recognizable enough to signal taste.
China offers particularly vivid examples of this shift. Pop Mart’s SpongeBob SquarePants Bikini Bottom Residents series has turned some of the cartoon’s strangest background characters into unlikely collectibles. With bulging eyes, distorted features and permanently unimpressed expressions, the “background fish” are a long way from traditional cute. Yet that awkwardness has become the appeal: since the series launched in April, several figures have sold out online and risen sharply in value on resale platforms. On Chinese social media, fans have compared their exhausted expressions to the drained look of office workers, transforming visual weirdness into something humorous, relatable and highly shareable.
“The embrace of funny-ugly reflects not just changing aesthetic sensibilities, but also evolving attitudes toward identity, self-expression, and emotional release in a high-pressure, hyper-connected world,” comments People’s Daily.
The same logic is reviving characters that were never designed to be conventionally lovable. For Japan’s Cat Day 2026, Disney Store Japan put Cinderella antagonist Lucifer alongside the much sweeter Figaro at the center of a new merchandise collection. Lucifer’s narrowed eyes and malicious grin were softened into plush toys, bag charms and apparel without removing the character traits that make him mischievous in the first place. Disney itself describes him as a cat whose grumpy expression is somehow difficult to dislike.
This appetite is not simply about ugliness. It is about emotional complexity. Research agency Sparkle Insights argues that the rise of Labubu and Fugglers is especially visible among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who are showing greater appetite for “imperfection, irregularity and emotional texture.” Characters can be playful, awkward and sinister simultaneously, leaving more room for consumers to project their own moods and identities onto them.
That builds on what VML Intelligence identified in “Cute Power.” Somerset House’s Cute exhibition showed that cuteness is not inherently innocent; its ability to move between sweetness and discomfort is part of its cultural power. Curator Claire Catterall has described cute as a way to live within “rapidly changing, flawed and precarious times,” while the exhibition deliberately brought cute and grotesque imagery together.
For brands, the next phase of cute may therefore be less about making everything softer. Younger audiences have grown up surrounded by flawless feeds, filters, and increasingly polished AI imagery. Against that backdrop, a crooked smile, sharp tooth or slightly unsettling expression can feel more human and more ownable. Kawaii still comforts, but kaiju gives it character.
