Hello Kitty still raking in millions with her soft power at 50 years old
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Hello Kitty's simple design has mileage as a money-spinner for years to come, experts say.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO – Hello Kitty, the cute, enigmatic character
The simple design of the character – who is not a cat, but a little girl from London, according to Sanrio, the company behind Kitty – has mileage as a money-spinner for years to come, experts say.
One woman in the US state of California has amassed so much Hello Kitty merchandise that her husband built her a pink so-called “she-shed” to keep it in.
Stuffed inside are thousands of toys and other items featuring Kitty and her eye-catching red bow, including rows of sunglasses, a swivel chair and novelty gumball dispensers.
Ms Helen, founder of the Hello Kitty SoCal Babes fan club, with her collection in her “she-shed” in Riverside County, California.
PHOTO: AFP
“People my age, you know, we are told many times, ‘Hello Kitty is for little kids’, and I laugh at that,” said Ms Helen from Riverside County, conceding she is “50 plus”.
Ms Helen, who drives a Hello Kitty-decorated sport utility vehicle and runs the local fan club Hello Kitty SoCal Babes, has been “obsessed” with the character since its 1970s US debut.
Her vast collection of Hello Kitty plushies “make me feel warm”, she said, describing spending hours among the soft toys, many of them rare, on a regular basis.
“Something in my inner child gets healed,” she added.
Hello Kitty started life as an illustration on a vinyl coin purse.
It has since appeared on tens of thousands of products – official and unofficial – including tie-ups with Adidas, Balenciaga and other top brands.
The phenomenon shows no sign of slowing, with a Warner Bros movie in the pipeline and a Hello Kitty theme park due to open in 2025 on China’s Hainan island.
Sanrio’s share price has soared
Pure product
“We’d be foolishly cynical to say that we don’t need these soft, fluffy, pink things,” said Dr Christine R. Yano of the University of Hawaii.
Hello Kitty merchandise at the Sanrio Smile Shop on its opening day at Universal Studios Hollywood in California.
PHOTO: AFP
In fact, “given the fraught nature of our contemporary lives, perhaps we need it now more than ever”, added Dr Yano, author of the book Pink Globalisation, which is about Hello Kitty.
“This is not a phenomenon that has died or is going to die, at least soon.”
Unlike other Japanese cultural exports such as Pokemon or Dragon Ball, there is minimal narrative around the character, whose full name is Kitty White.
She has a twin sister Mimmy, a boyfriend called Dear Daniel and a pet cat of her own, Sanrio says. She loves her mother’s apple pie and dreams of becoming a pianist or poet.
The rest is left to fans’ imaginations – just like her “abstract, bare design that can speak with a kind of simplicity and elegance to more people”, Dr Yano said.
“I call her a ‘pure product’,” the researcher added.
Some feminists say Hello Kitty’s lack of mouth is a symbol of disempowerment, but Dr Yano counters that by not depicting it, “she has a greater range of expression”.
Famous Hello Kitty fans include American singers Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, and her appeal extends to royalty: Britain’s King Charles wished her a happy birthday earlier in 2024.
And on Hello Kitty’s TikTok account – whose bio says “CEO of supercute” – sardonic memes and footage from Hello Kitty Day at US baseball games delight 3.5 million followers.
Items that are part of Ms Helen’s collection in her “she-shed” in California.
PHOTO: AFP
Kawaii
Hello Kitty is the epitome of Japan’s “kawaii” (cute) soft power, and she is the mascot of a campaign promoting good tourist etiquette in Tokyo.
Posters celebrating the 50th anniversary are on display at the Sanrio Puroland theme park, where businesswoman Kim Lu, 36, from Manila had taken her four-year-old niece to on their holiday. “This really is our priority here in Tokyo,” she said.
“To be honest, we really don’t know” the reason for Hello Kitty’s ineffable popularity, said Ms Lu. “I think it’s the kawaii charm.”
Sanrio owns the copyright to hundreds of other popular characters, and Hello Kitty now accounts for 30 per cent of profits, down from 75 per cent a decade ago.
But Kitty is still a favourite of 23-year-old Rio Ueno, who took an overnight bus from Japan’s Niigata region to visit the park with a friend.
“I’ve had Kitty goods around me since I was a small child,” said Ms Ueno, dressed in a fluffy Hello Kitty sweater, sporting a Kitty bag and clutching a Kitty doll.
“She is someone who is always close to me, and I want it to stay that way.” AFP
