A baffling look inside the Butter Baby cult in LA. The character-driven, hyper aesthetic dessert company’s LA pop-up featured an otherworldly immersive experience where attendees bathed its alien mascot, Butter Baby, in butter.

Participants entered the event through a yellow curtain, where they saw Butter Baby relaxing in an enormous pool of butter at the center of a yellow room surrounded by merch and donuts on display plinths like works of art.

People used enormous wooden spoons to baste Butter Baby in butter along with faceless yellow-suited attendants as atmospheric music played in the dimly-lit space. The three-day Melrose pop-up ran from Dec. 12 through Dec. 14, 2025, where Angelenos got to try special donuts made in collaboration with artists JasonTheWeen, Katseye, and Mark Tuan.

TikTok creators who attended the pop-up shared clips of the event’s unexpected spa-like vibe and the exclusive, crunchy, cream-filled donuts on offer. Social media users inundated with viral Butter Baby yellow content shared mixed reactions.

While some hyped Butter Baby’s fun and cute immersive experience, others thought the over-the-top event belied a social-media-fueled consumerist dystopia. 

The hype was there, but how was the food?

TikToker @christainamerica’s clips from inside the first day at the LA Butter Baby pop-up racked up 20.7 million views. Reactions from commenters ranged from irritated dismissal to genuine terror.

@christainamerica Butter baby is a dessert brand from Jakarta and they’re having a pop up in LA this weekend. The concept is unique, the character is cute, and they have three donut flavors, including a special collab with Katseye. If you’re in LA, be sure to check it out! #lapopup #butterbaby #donuts #butterbabyla #losangeleslife ♬ original sound – Christa | Life in America

Before cutting to clips of Butter Baby in its butter bath, @peachyphu said, “Nothing prepared me for what I was about to experience.”

According to the TikTok creator, the pop-up was super cute and unique, but her honest review of the maximalist Katseye donut? ”It’s not good… It’s so dry… I wouldn’t get this again.”

@peachyphu @Butter baby pop up in LA!!!! overall was super cute, i love how unique the pop up was. 🤩 #butterbaby #hollywood #losangeles #lapopup #foodtok ♬ Funny video "Carmen Prelude" Arranging weakness(836530) – yo suzuki(akisai)

Jason and Charlotte, @forever.chason, attended the pop-up as a couple. Jason described the experience in whispers as chants played in the background. Yellow-suited attendants performed ritualistic dances and guided participants to bathe Butter Baby in butter.

The post’s caption read, “7/10!! The hype was there & a very cute pop up, but the donuts & coffee couldn’t live up to it.”

@forever.chason 7/10!! The hype was there & a very cute pop upbut the donuts & coffee couldnt live up to it. Line took about 30 minutes to get in which isn’t bad at all, all the staff around was super friendly & had a photographer taking photos. I loved this experience & spending the time with the girl I love most! #butterbaby #popup #fyp #viral #losangeles ♬ original sound – Charlotte & Jason

The internet reacts

A Butter Baby donut critic reacting to the LA pop-up from afar assumed as much. In a video captioned “What the hell is a butter baby?”

In a clip from Dec. 18, 2025, @user3028j4 said, “Those 8-dollar donuts you guys are buying just to pour butter on a baby don’t even look good.”

“Probably feels like biting into a Triscuit,” they continued. Here’s what else the internet said:

“Genuinely what the hell.”

“Every day we get closer and closer to Blade Runner levels of consumerism, and I have no idea how to feel anymore.”

“Walking into the butter baby cult 🧍‍♀️”

“LOL what an interesting event”

“This whole thing would send me into psychosis.”

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The post “Nothing prepared me”: Butter Baby pop-up lets guests spoon butter onto a yellow mascot appeared first on The Daily Dot.

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