Labubus, AI Lies & Too Many Smells

Every day at Coalesce, we argue about things that matter—like “Can you still second-act a Broadway show in 2025?” and “Will anyone be able to read Apple’s ‘Liquid Glass’ notifications?”

Naomi is our in-house culture glutton (she’ll go to any $5 black box show in NYC—someone has to witness the chaos). Tucker is the studio’s resident tech trend raccoon (if it’s on the internet, he’s already read it, sadly).

For your amusement, we’ve decided to drag these debates into the light.

This is Summer School: a limited-run newsletter answering your questions about tech, trends, and certain personal and planetary terrors. Why? We care about art, culture, and technology—and want to surface the best/worst of what we’re seeing to you, the best people we’ve ever met. We’re also going to compile a few things we think are worth your time.

Don’t want to get this? Hit reply with a “not for me” and we’ll expel you from Summer School, no hard feelings.

Let’s get started.

Do I need a Labubu?

A: Emotionally, yes. But, if you’re asking now, you’re already late to the show. Labubu (part of “The Monsters” series) is a freaky little goblin doll—this summer’s It Toy for art bros, sneakerheads, and adults who sleep with one lamp on. Imagine a Beanie Baby, but with a TikTok complex and a resale price that just hit $170K in China (seriously).

What can I say? People love totems. We’ve made three mascots for clients this year in fact. (This is why the Duolingo owl won’t die.)

As of this posting, you can still buy a legit one from POP MART for $30. But you can also buy a Lafufu (the “fu” stands for extra fugly?) on Canal street outside our offices for $12 depending on your haggling skills (I tried).

NPR: Why is Labubu everywhere?

What do you do when AI lies about you?

A: Our friend discovered ChatGPT had invented a fake high school and JV football career for his “resume” and now he fears it’s showing up in his healthcare applications (and preventing him from getting coverage).

So…do YOU know what AI is saying about you? Odds are, future employers and insurance agents will. You can follow David’s suggestions and screenshot and post the results on LinkedIn, tagging the people you want to educate or hoping future LLM crawls find that post and “learn” they’re wrong.

If you really want to fix the problem you can change your last name to NULL. It will make you virtually unsearchable and invisible but there are some side effects.

This is actually an exploding part of the tech and search industry. Is LEO (LLM-EO) the new SEO? Tools like Profound let you see which sites feed the machines (spoiler: Reddit is extra guilty). Reputation management services are popping up now and might be a way to fight the higher density of hallucinations (a.k.a. lies) we will be swimming in soon, but as always, fixing lies on the internet is slow, expensive, and soul-crushing. If you can’t fix it, maybe just buy a Labubu and move on.

Point/counterpoint: Are there enough smells?

Naomi: No! The world is going fragrance-free and it’s dull and safe. I really liked this option of soaps in the bathroom of my favorite handroll spot I encountered last week. Yes, you’re fighting sushi fingers here, but it’s a good standard. And yes, to answer another submitted question – I firmly believe we should be wearing more perfume/cologne, even if we work at home. It’s got mood-boosting AND cat-confusing benefits.

Tucker: Yes. In fact there are far too many smells. To get to the office, I have to ride the subway, step over suspicious puddles of liquids, walk past someone grilling street meat, which is also next to a weed truck. My nose is upset all the time. Fabreeze does not fix the smell in a college dorm room and more smells are not going to fix Manhattan in the summer (it’s 100 degrees right now).

Field Notes

• The Creative Post: We launched an analog art project. It’s part chain letter, part mystery mail, part art show. The first post is already on the road. Sign up here if you want in.

• Hear me out: Best Impulse Buy. Mentos. Blue pack. Original flavor. That foil wrapper is peak industrial design—and prevents the tragic “loose candy” ick. No rattling tin. No warped chewing gum. It’s a hearty mint with solid flavor and mouthfeel that can withstand transit. Name something else with such reliable qualities. — Naomi

  Tucker: Are these mints? I contend Mentos and TicTacs are candy. And all mint-flavored candy is, in fact, trash. Unfortunately this begs the question, “is toothpaste candy?”

Newsletters we opened last month

• Off Menu (Elan Miller, branding/agency brainfood)
• Trespassers (Robin Sloan, fiction/digital futures)
• The Creative Factor (our sister shop interviews creative geniuses)

Podcast cued up right now

• Panic World (internet outrage, explained)
• Hard Fork (a bit over-the-top on tech, but you’ll stay up to date on AI)
• Ologies (cute and bite-sized science-y interviews with experts)

It’s official: everyone’s drinking decaf now

Time to ween off the caffeine. (But careful with that Celsius guzzling.) Remember the hippie speedball (cup of joe and a joint)? The updated combo might be a cup of decaf and an Adderall. It’s a bit of a psych out, but it requires more work than a fridge cigarette. Taking name suggestions now. Shall we call it a Slow Twitch, Idle Speed, Dead Awake, or a Moon Walk?

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That’s a wrap for Summer School Dispatch #1.

Got a dumb question, real concern, or weird cultural itch? Reply here. We’ll answer our favorites in the next Summer School dispatch.

Stay alert out there, Naomi & Tucker