Red Scare — "Labubu Trap TEASER" (Sep 9, 2025)

Overview

In this teaser episode, Anna Khachiyan and Dasha Nekrasova take on the bizarre internet hype around “Dubai Chocolate” and tie it to broader trends in millennial and Gen Z culture, marketing aesthetics, and shopping behavior. With their characteristic irreverence, they unravel the intersecting threads of consumer psyops, suspiciously viral products, aesthetic signals, and the stratification of ‘basic’ chain clothing stores.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Dubai Chocolate "Craze" as Psyop and Meme

• Depraved Hype Origins:
  • Anna and Dasha riff on rumors about bizarre, "scatological" sex acts among Dubai’s elite, noting how searching “Dubai Chocolate” online is quickly diverted to discussions about candy and confections rather than subversive gossip.
    • Quote: “I think that the Dubai chocolate craze is all like a psyop... when you search for Dubai Chocolate...instead you find out about different kinds of candy bars.” — Anna (00:16)
• Internet Sanitization via Trends:
  • Anna speculates that the viral popularity of Dubai Chocolate may be manufactured to cover up or drown out other, more salacious information about Dubai lifestyles.
• Candy as Internet Smokescreen:
  • The pair joke that any real information about Dubai oddities is suppressed in favor of repetitive candy content.
    • Quote: “It’s just like pistachio, pistachio and like kunifa dough or whatever...it’s more of like a bird’s nest thing versus flat sheets, whatever.” — Dasha (00:37)
• A Hype That Peaked Instantly:
  • Anna reflects: “That really did feel like it peaked really quickly.” (00:52)
• Personal Experimentation and Paranoia:
  • Dasha confesses her resistance to trying Dubai Chocolate, suggesting an underlying suspicion of contamination or even mass-subversion.
    • Quote: “...maybe it was like a more advanced form of like whatever technology Mossad used to like put bombs in the beepers of Hamas fighters...” — Dasha (01:00)
    • Memorable Moment: Dasha ultimately gives in to curiosity and describes the chocolate as “just like mid.” (01:37)

Sophisticated Flavors and Millennial Infantilization

• Food Taste as Identity:
  • Anna abstains from Dubai Chocolate, citing a general lack of a sweet tooth, but admits a fondness for “sophisticated” pistachio flavoring.
• Matcha Green as a Generational Aesthetic:
  • Anna muses that matcha has become an aesthetic signifier of refinement, wellness, and youthful energy—yet ultimately, she says, “it’s not that deep with the matcha green.” (02:18)
    • Color is babyish, catering to a “stunted” generation easily swayed by soft, approachable branding.
    • Quote: “It’s just like...it’s a baby color. Cuz millennials and younger are stunted and respond in marketing (to) fresh but kind of quirked colors.” — Anna (02:11)

The “Labubu Trend” and Store Hierarchy

• Defining “Labubu” Style:
  • Dasha makes a key connection, categorizing certain chain stores—Addicted, Princess Polly, Garage—as part of the “Labubu trend”: a blend of Y2K, clubland, quirky and vaguely Asian-leaning aesthetic.
    • Quote: “It’s like Addicted, Princess Polly, and Garage.” — Dasha (02:23)
• Brandy Melville as an Outlier:
  • Anna and Dasha agree Brandy Melville is “a step above”—more classically “clean and sedate” than the others in the “Labubu” trinity.
    • Quote: “Brandy too long, clean and sedate. Yeah. Whereas these stores have...Y2K club land aesthetic that also feels weird and Asian.” — Dasha (02:45)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Dubai Chocolate, Chocolate pedophiles.” — Dasha (00:12)
• “I tried it the other day because I was just like desperate.” — Dasha (01:30)
• “I don’t have much of a sweet tooth… But I do like pistachio flavoring. Sophisticated.” — Anna (01:39)
• “It’s not that deep with the matcha green.” — Anna (02:18)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00] — Opening riff on the Dubai Chocolate rumor cycle
• [00:16] — Dubai Chocolate as a possible psyop
• [01:00] — Dasha’s paranoia about eating Dubai Chocolate; Mossad reference
• [01:37] — Dasha finally tries Dubai Chocolate (“mid” verdict)
• [01:45] — Anna on flavors and sophistication; matcha and marketing colors for millennials
• [02:18] — Matcha’s limited cultural depth; aesthetic marketing
• [02:23] — “Labubu trend” store trio identified
• [02:45] — Subtle class distinction between Brandy Melville and other Y2K clubland stores

Tone and Style

• The conversation is playful, conspiratorial, and wry.
• The hosts mix internet-culture skepticism with personal anecdotes and cultural critique.
• Jokes about Mossad and chocolate poisoning are delivered deadpan, gently satirizing paranoia around global trends.

For listeners and non-listeners alike, this teaser serves as an irreverent diagnosis of internet meme commodities, faux-sophistication, and the ever-strange Y2K fashion afterlife—always with Anna and Dasha’s signature arch skepticism.