Karl Marx wrote volumes warning the world about capitalism's ability to commodify everything: thought, art, labour, even identity. What the 'Father of Communism' likely never imagined was that one day, he himself would become part of the spectacle.
This week, visitors to London's Highgate Cemetery spotted a Labubu plush toy placed on Marx's grave. Mass-produced, obsessively collected, and heavily marketed, Labubu is a product that represents late-stage consumerism.
The 19th-century thinker who dreamed of a world without private property or profit now shared his grave with a wide-eyed doll, made by the same system he tried to fight all his life.
The internet had a field day.
A user on X exclaimed, "is that a f***ing labubu?"
"Who put a labubu there," a comment read.
A comment read, "Labubu could be one of the most anti-Marx things."
Someone wrote, "the concept of knowing there is currently a Labubu on Karl Marx's grave."
"Icon of modern consumerism on his grave he would have hated you," a user wrote.
Labubu is part of the Pop Mart universe, a collection of vinyl figures sold in blind boxes, where customers don't know what variant they will receive until they open it. Designed to manufacture desire through artificial scarcity, the toys have become status symbols in the world of Gen Z consumerism. Limited editions resell for hundreds, even thousands of dollars.
The Labubu wasn't the only offering on Marx's grave. Alongside it were flowers, handwritten letters, and other tributes. One letter stood out.
Written by a Chinese university student named Liu Yuhae, it showed deep gratitude for Karl Marx's work and its influence on contemporary socialist theory in China.
"I have always wanted to write you a letter," Ms Yuhae began. "But when it came to actually writing, I found myself at a loss for words because there was so much I wanted to say."
Ms Yuhae detailed her efforts to study Marx's works, from 'The Communist Manifesto' to 'The Critique of the Gotha Programme', expressing both awe and humility.
"My study of both the principles and the original works of your theories is very limited and superficial... I hope that as my understanding continues to develop and deepen, I can get closer to you," she wrote.
"I hope that at the end of my life, I will receive an invitation from you. It has always been my bong-cherished wish to cook potatoes for you everyday in the after life. I already look like a potato now," Ms Yuhae wrote.
"In today's society, I still can't avoid being obsequious and senile. I hope that by the time we pass away our society will enable everyone to get rid of such flaws."
She ended the letter saying, "There are so many things to say that I can't possibly express them all. So I'll stop here. If I can meet you in my dreams, I will talk to you in more detail. I believe that you can see me. I won't bother you any more. That's all for now."
