Pop Culture Meets Personal Finance: Trends, Toys, Music and the Power of Hype

Time: 60 mins,

Updated: December 11 2025,

Presenter: Amy Kliewer

Objective

Teachers will be able to:

Identify pop culture trends and events connected to personal finance and economic concepts such as consumer behavior, scarcity, and marketing influence
Facilitate discussions that use pop culture examples to help students recognize financial decision-making in everyday life.

Standards

State Standards

Concepts

Budgeting/Money Managment, Buying Goods and Services, Incentives, Personal Finance

This video is available to view for EconEdLink members only.

Description

This session explores timely, relevant examples that bring personal finance and economics to life in the classroom and help students think critically about consumer behavior and marketing influence. Participants will compare the current craze around Labubu dolls to the Beanie Baby boom and bust of the early 2000s, examine the connections between gaming and sports gambling, and discover who profited from the hype around K-Pop Demon Hunters and other 2025 hits.

Join FEPPP and EconEdLink for a collaborative conversation about how to turn students’ interests into authentic financial learning opportunities. Educators will walk away with discussion prompts and classroom activities that make financial systems visible and relevant in students’ everyday lives.

Check out FEPPP here!

Subjects:

Personal Finance