Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty

We all recognise that lovable face, the white mouthless girl-cat who has rather puzzingly owned our hearts since we first saw that amazing back-pack in Chinatown at the age of twelve. It’s time to greet our latest icon of the week… Hello Kitty!

Dear Hello Kitty,

Let’s forget about the money and the products for moment. Let’s put aside the fact that you are a funny little mouthless catgirl who’s been drawn with about two lines.

You are a mystery. A blank, cosy space that can be filled with our hopes and dreams. You were there for us when everyone else was busy. You are our childhoods. You’re something rather special indeed…

So thank you for being there when the boyfriends weren’t, and for reaching out a paw when we felt alone. Hello, Kitty!

Love Mookychick xxx

Hello Kitty quotes

“You can never have too many friends!”

Hello Kitty best known for

Being the uber Product Queen of all time. Hello Kitty has her face slapped on over 1,200 products from socks to wine bottles to laptop computers.

Hello Kitty least known for

Having a past. Hello Kitty actually has a boyfriend and a twin sister and everything.

Hello Kitty mook factor

Well… She’s intriguing. In one way she’s the symbol of mammon culture gone mad, on another hand she’s a blank mystery, and on a conveniently-placed third hand her mystery is what makes her warm and special and everyone’s friend. Weird, no? We can only salute such a bizarre dichotomy.

Hello Kitty biography

Hello Kitty was created in the 1970s, but didn’t become popular until the 1980s, when she exploded in popularity not only in her home country of Japan but also in America,in China, in Europe… She was all over the globe. She was placed on every product imaginable, used by every designer possible and could be found in every home in every nation, with her sweet wholesome little kitty face, big black eyes and her sweet little bow that grabbed our attention and kept it with the question “Who in the name of dear sweet Bast is Hello Kitty?”

Few people know anything about her really. She’s even more of a blank face on which to impose your own dreams than Britney Spears or Kylie Minogue. People only know what Hello Kitty looks like. They don’t question where she comes from or by whom she was created, or anything about her…

Yet, believe it or not, Hello Kitty has a past, a life, and she has been spread from country to country, from generation to generation, riding on the hearts of sweet little kids… And, of course, products.

Hello Kitty was born on November 1st 1974 to the Sanrio Company, who, considering her success, must be very proud parents indeed. She was born to Japanese designer Ikuko Shimizu, who was asked to create a cartoon character designed to decorate a plastic coin purse, and to settle in with her fellow Sanrio cartoon designs. However, Hello Kitty could not be limited to a single plastic coin purse. Hello Kitty was destined for greater things.

In Hello Kitty’s world she was born to the British family; The Whites. She lives in London with her parents George White and Mary White and twin sister, Mimmy White. Hello Kitty’s birth certificate reads Kitty White. “Hello Kitty has a twin!?” I hear you say, and yes she does. The only way to tell them apart is by how they wear their bow; Hello Kitty wears a red bow in her left ear while Mimmy wears a yellow on her right.

A lot of people look at Hello Kitty as something to mock, and to some this may be true. She’s small and over-popularised. Wannabe individuals sew Hello Kitty patches onto their army-canvas jackets attempting to stand out. Most companies use her only for profit, but… What if she means more? Hello Kitty is how you see her [and this is a good life lesson for anything]. Sure, to some she is only dollar signs, to others she is only a way to stand out without really standing out, but to others, she is a childhood memory, a symbol of something that will always be there, she is a WAY cooler version of Barbie!

Hello Kitty has been in our hearts since we were little giggly girls. She started on the front of a pocket purse, and wound up on everything from toasters to leather jackets to myspaces. She symbolises everything we dream the world should be as children, bright and happy and perfect and perhaps that is why the public has clung to her so fiercely. Hello Kitty does not teach us amazing things about being a feminist, or useful facts about how to do your taxes, but she lives in a world of perfection. We idolise her, we love her, we love our Hello Kitty, and when we are sad, and hating how hard it is to be looking for a job, having a boyfriend, getting to classes at 6am we can look to her, and be happy…

Basically what I’m saying here is that she’s a less creepy version of a clown.

Hello Kitty isn’t just a profit, or a “statement” to you, if you don’t want her to be. To you, she could simply be a cute, lovable stuffed animal to sit on your bed waiting for the day when you need a hug and no-one else is there to give it. This sounds a touch creepy, but this article isn’t really about Hello Kitty, it’s about thinking what you want to think and having some faith in something despite the way the public portrays it. So, really… this is an article about not judging things, about seeing things how you want to see them. Instead of shunning something because everyone else loves it, try to see past that, and learn to love it yourself, for your own reasons. Not just because you best friend has Hello Kitty socks.

Random Hello Kitty White Facts

  • In the year 2009 Hello Kitty is 35. That’s only 4 years younger than my mother.
  • * Sanrio has 400 outstanding lawsuits against sellers of knockoff Hello Kitty merchandise.
  • * Hello Kitty is an $800 million industry.
  • * Hello Kitty’s favourite bedtime story is Mysterious Forest.
  • * Hello Kitty has a boyfriend named Dear Daniel
  • * Hello Kitty’s favourite snack is her mom’s apple pie
  • * Hello Kitty has been the star of her own anime series in Japan and America.
  • * Hello Kitty is in the third grade
  • * “Hello Kitty is as tall as five apples and weighs as much as three apples.”
  • * Hello Kitty wants to be a poet or pianist when she grows up.

As a final goodbye to Hello Kitty, we couldn’t leave without listing some, and only some of the products on which she has mysteriously appeared…

Hello Kitty Products

* Bags
* T-shirts [I should know, I own 5 individual shirts with hello kitty prints on them] * Bath towels
* Gold coins with face value of 50 euros
* Hello Kitty hatchback cars
* Hello Kitty pendant encrusted with nine carats of diamonds
* Hello Kitty passenger jet
* Toasters, cups, plates, bowls, silverware
* Hello Kitty MasterCard debit card
* Hello Kitty version of the classic board game Twister
* Surfboards
* Nintendo Game Boy handheld video game system[with Hello Kitty Software] * One-carat diamond ring designed by Kimora Lee Simmons
* Conversation Robot
* Desktop and laptop computers
* Land-line and mobile telephones
* Gumball machines
* Playing cards
* Curling iron and hair dryer
* Shower radio
* Bottles of wine [no, I’m not kidding] * Waffle iron that molds waffles in Hello Kitty’s likeness
* Cotton candy machine
* Washing machine
* Desk-top water dispenser that holds the recommended daily intake of 8 glasses of water
* Toaster that sears Hello Kitty’s image onto slices of bread
* Vacuum
* Ceramic baking dishes
* Styrofoam cup of instant noodle soup

The list is near-literally endless. It was estimated by the Times of London there are approximately 1,200 Hello Kitty items on the market. With Sanrio coming out with an estimated 600 new products annually, basically there’s a lot of Hello Kitty shiz-nit out there.

That’s one kitty-kat that’s never going to go hungry!


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