Toymakers Are Targeting Your Children Via YouTube’s Kid Influencers

One evening in June 2016, Isaac Larian lay in bed at his Malibu, Calif., home, unable to sleep. So the chief executive officer of the world’s largest private toy company, MGA Entertainment Inc., did what any insomniac toy executive would do to unwind: He watched viral videos of kids unboxing toys on YouTube. Don’t laugh. Videos by youthful toy reviewers can get millions of views, and watching toys being freed from their packaging has become must-see TV for many fans. “I said to myself, How are we going take advantage of this phenomenon and make the ultimate unboxing toy?” recalls Larian. “I challenged my design team, and they came up with the idea.”

Five months later, MGA released L.O.L. Surprise!, a small plastic sphere concealing a miniature doll and its accessories. That a plaything so simple became a sellout hit in just two weeks isn’t the only surprise. The toy is also noteworthy because it was marketed without a single television ad. That boffo reception wasn’t a fluke. This year, MGA’s newest product, the L.O.L. Big Surprise—a bundle of 50 tiny items that kids can unwrap—has landed at the top of many 2017 best toy lists. It sold out at both Toys “R” Us and Amazon.com on the first day it went on sale—again, without a single TV spot.