vision_n
logical guy
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In this post, I'll dive into the pink rabbit hole and explore how a rubber slipper peddler created one of the most influential and pop culture, and what dark
side is there behind the best-selling "Hello" in human history.
Hello Kitty exists over 50 years. During this half-century, Soviet Union has collapsed. The internet has gone from being a toy for scientists to a meme dump, and humanity has gone through 4 generations (5th one is rotting on ipads currently).
And white kitty has not gone anywhere. There is no hide from her, she still looks at us with her silent gaze from the abyss of capitalism:
Handbags, mugs, airplanes, packages of motor oil and even COFFINS.
Because if a brand is with you from birth, it should be with you until the end.
Shares from Sunan Sanri (the company that owns Hello Kitty) surpassed Toyota itself in terms of trading volume on the Takshi Stock Exchange.
Hello Kitty never gets old or goes out of style.
She's outlived generations of children, adults, and marketers.
She's loved by children and teenagers, collected by adults, and used by corporations to sell
everything from toothbrushes to airline tickets.
And a logical question arises: what's the secret of this
mysterious kitty, and why doesn't she have a mouth?
It all began with rubber slippers.
In the early 1960s, a Japanese entrepreneur named Shintara Tsuzi sold all sorts of little things: flip-flops, cups, and other household goods.
Business was going alright, but not enough to leave a mark on human history.
Then, at some point, Tsuzi came up with the idea of printing slippers with berries and flowers.
Suddenly, the product began selling noticeably better. Not because the slippers were more comfortable or more durable, but because they had something cute and kawaii printed on them.
This is how Sanrio was born.
Before starting to create an infinite number of its own characters, the company licensed popular third-party characters, such as Snoopy.
Observing a crazy demand on a junk featuring cute cartoons, the CEO decides to hire a team of designers and start creating their own characters to avoid paying copyright fees.
And in 1973 a first character was NOT a kitten, it was a bear named Coro Chan.
Sadly, no one remembers him. Kinda unfair.
In 1974, the company assigned artist Yuku Shimizu, who had created Bear, the task of creating a new character for a small series of wallets.
And so Hello Kitty was born.
Sanrio quickly realized that they had accidentally struck gold.
From that moment on, they began mass-producing characters.
Today, there are more than 400 of them. But no matter how hard the company tried, almost no one could come close to Kitty's level.
Besides too, My Melody and her evil counterpart Kuromi were the only one who stood out.
Later on, she was given a name Kitty White, a family, a boyfriend and a place of residence London.
Who cares about that? Why doesn't she have a mouth?
Sanrio's official response sounds like this:
side is there behind the best-selling "Hello" in human history.
Hello Kitty exists over 50 years. During this half-century, Soviet Union has collapsed. The internet has gone from being a toy for scientists to a meme dump, and humanity has gone through 4 generations (5th one is rotting on ipads currently).
And white kitty has not gone anywhere. There is no hide from her, she still looks at us with her silent gaze from the abyss of capitalism:
Handbags, mugs, airplanes, packages of motor oil and even COFFINS.
Because if a brand is with you from birth, it should be with you until the end.
Shares from Sunan Sanri (the company that owns Hello Kitty) surpassed Toyota itself in terms of trading volume on the Takshi Stock Exchange.
Hello Kitty never gets old or goes out of style.
She's outlived generations of children, adults, and marketers.
She's loved by children and teenagers, collected by adults, and used by corporations to sell
everything from toothbrushes to airline tickets.
And a logical question arises: what's the secret of this
mysterious kitty, and why doesn't she have a mouth?
It all began with rubber slippers.
In the early 1960s, a Japanese entrepreneur named Shintara Tsuzi sold all sorts of little things: flip-flops, cups, and other household goods.
Business was going alright, but not enough to leave a mark on human history.
Then, at some point, Tsuzi came up with the idea of printing slippers with berries and flowers.
Suddenly, the product began selling noticeably better. Not because the slippers were more comfortable or more durable, but because they had something cute and kawaii printed on them.
This is how Sanrio was born.
Before starting to create an infinite number of its own characters, the company licensed popular third-party characters, such as Snoopy.
Observing a crazy demand on a junk featuring cute cartoons, the CEO decides to hire a team of designers and start creating their own characters to avoid paying copyright fees.
And in 1973 a first character was NOT a kitten, it was a bear named Coro Chan.
Sadly, no one remembers him. Kinda unfair.
In 1974, the company assigned artist Yuku Shimizu, who had created Bear, the task of creating a new character for a small series of wallets.
And so Hello Kitty was born.
Sanrio quickly realized that they had accidentally struck gold.
From that moment on, they began mass-producing characters.
Today, there are more than 400 of them. But no matter how hard the company tried, almost no one could come close to Kitty's level.
Besides too, My Melody and her evil counterpart Kuromi were the only one who stood out.
Later on, she was given a name Kitty White, a family, a boyfriend and a place of residence London.
Who cares about that? Why doesn't she have a mouth?
Sanrio's official response sounds like this:
Very convenient, but the internet was very satisfied with this. If you think, the lack of mouth on a character who stares into your soul who is looking at you from MILLIONS of objects can be really frightening.
Hello Kitty is empty, and as we know, the internet always tries to fill the emptiness with something scary.
The darkest version of this legend say that a woman, who worked as a designer at a Sanrio had a daughter with incurable oral cancer. The disease was practically eating away at his face. The child was losing the ability to speak, and doctors just threw up their hands and refused to continue treatment.
One night, in despair, the mother tried to summon an ancient "god", which is best left unpronounced, and it replied:
The condition was simple and monstrous. The daughter will survive but in exchange the world will be given a symbol of the deal with the devil. A character that will be seen by millions and who will be deprived of a mouth, like the saved child. A white dead face, smothered horns instead of ears and empty gaze. The absence of emtions is a trace of the contract, according to which the character can neither rejoice nor suffer.
She can only watch.
And Hello Kitty's popularity is not a marketing, but the price the world pays for one saved life.
Despite the fact that this story is made up, it had popularity in Latin America. Something like a creepypasta.
However, one day, the brand did find itself in an insane horror.
In 1999, Hong Kong, a brutal murder happened, becoming one of the most notorious crimes in the city's history.
The victim was Fan Man-yee, a 23 years old woman, a mother of a child and working as a nightclub hostess.
One day, she stole a wallet from a regular customer, who appeared to be a member of a criminal group.
It wasn't that big amount of money, but for a mentally ill gangsta it was a reason.
Along with 2 members and 1 underage girl, he kidnapped and held this girl in an apartment for around a month, where she was tortured daily.
And this weren't just tortures, it was a pure sadism, coupled with drug-induced psychosis.
To cover the tracks, her body was dismembered and boiled. The skull was sewn inside a huge Hello Kitty mermaid plush doll.
News publicized this case as a death for the entire industry.
The story came up to light very strange.
That underage girl, after a month of this murder, went to the police and told them, that she is being haunted of the ghost of a murdered woman.
Police thought that she was a schizo, but the girl led them directly to the apartment, where the head and other dismembered parts were found.
Sanrio has never given a commentary on this incident. Complete silence.
The logic is simple, any mention would only strenghten the association between Kawaii brand and gore.
The sales of the kitty were not affected. The cat remained an icon, as it always had been.
This is a cat, right?
I mean yeah? It is a cat with ears, whiskers, and a tail. What is there to discuss?
At some time, Sanrio decided to make a move that shocked all the fans.
The company's official position is this: Hello Kitty is not a cat.
This is a girl named Kitty White, who looks like a cat, but a human child.
To make things worse, Hello Kitty has a pet named Charmy Kitty.
So, in this universe, there are both cats and girls, who look like cats.
Community was not ready for this lore. The confussion intensified when Sanrio officially stated in an interview, that she was never:
1) showed on 4 paws,
2) doesn't meow
3) doesn't act like an animal.
That means she can't be considered as a cat.
This statement should have clarified everything, but it has managed to worsen it.
Hello Kitty is empty, and as we know, the internet always tries to fill the emptiness with something scary.
The darkest version of this legend say that a woman, who worked as a designer at a Sanrio had a daughter with incurable oral cancer. The disease was practically eating away at his face. The child was losing the ability to speak, and doctors just threw up their hands and refused to continue treatment.
One night, in despair, the mother tried to summon an ancient "god", which is best left unpronounced, and it replied:
The condition was simple and monstrous. The daughter will survive but in exchange the world will be given a symbol of the deal with the devil. A character that will be seen by millions and who will be deprived of a mouth, like the saved child. A white dead face, smothered horns instead of ears and empty gaze. The absence of emtions is a trace of the contract, according to which the character can neither rejoice nor suffer.
She can only watch.
And Hello Kitty's popularity is not a marketing, but the price the world pays for one saved life.
To save a child's life, you are creating a devil's symbol to worship the whole humanity.
Despite the fact that this story is made up, it had popularity in Latin America. Something like a creepypasta.
However, one day, the brand did find itself in an insane horror.
In 1999, Hong Kong, a brutal murder happened, becoming one of the most notorious crimes in the city's history.
The victim was Fan Man-yee, a 23 years old woman, a mother of a child and working as a nightclub hostess.
One day, she stole a wallet from a regular customer, who appeared to be a member of a criminal group.
It wasn't that big amount of money, but for a mentally ill gangsta it was a reason.
Along with 2 members and 1 underage girl, he kidnapped and held this girl in an apartment for around a month, where she was tortured daily.
And this weren't just tortures, it was a pure sadism, coupled with drug-induced psychosis.
To cover the tracks, her body was dismembered and boiled. The skull was sewn inside a huge Hello Kitty mermaid plush doll.
News publicized this case as a death for the entire industry.
The story came up to light very strange.
That underage girl, after a month of this murder, went to the police and told them, that she is being haunted of the ghost of a murdered woman.
Police thought that she was a schizo, but the girl led them directly to the apartment, where the head and other dismembered parts were found.
Sanrio has never given a commentary on this incident. Complete silence.
The logic is simple, any mention would only strenghten the association between Kawaii brand and gore.
The sales of the kitty were not affected. The cat remained an icon, as it always had been.
This is a cat, right?
I mean yeah? It is a cat with ears, whiskers, and a tail. What is there to discuss?
At some time, Sanrio decided to make a move that shocked all the fans.
The company's official position is this: Hello Kitty is not a cat.
This is a girl named Kitty White, who looks like a cat, but a human child.
To make things worse, Hello Kitty has a pet named Charmy Kitty.
So, in this universe, there are both cats and girls, who look like cats.
Community was not ready for this lore. The confussion intensified when Sanrio officially stated in an interview, that she was never:
1) showed on 4 paws,
2) doesn't meow
3) doesn't act like an animal.
That means she can't be considered as a cat.
This statement should have clarified everything, but it has managed to worsen it.
Fans began diggin deeper and found out, that Sanrio had been struggling with this for years.
At the start it was a white cat, then it became a woman, then a cat again and after that a character.
And sometimes they pretended that this question doesn't exist, because Sanrio doesn't care about the interpretetation.
It's important that she remains as flexible as possible, without any boundaries.
That's why it is easier for everyone to see something unique in her, and that's why she can be longer in trends.
At the end of the day she is an icon, a universal brand that can be slapped on everything.
Official merchandise includes rock-guitars, airplanes and trains, dental clinics, toilets, the list goes on...
But if you dive down into the custom world, you can find semi-automatic rifle, chainsaws, cars etc.
And it is a genius indirect marketing move! The more absurd the merch becomes, the more this brand enters the culture and becomes even more popular.
Me, personally, I see this character as a great character buildup: This was my oneitis's favourite plush toy (i got cucked TWICE)
Hope you enjoyed the post!
@BigBallsLarry congrats on winning FUOTY!
@petsmart💯 @Histy @Gio.
At the start it was a white cat, then it became a woman, then a cat again and after that a character.
And sometimes they pretended that this question doesn't exist, because Sanrio doesn't care about the interpretetation.
It's important that she remains as flexible as possible, without any boundaries.
That's why it is easier for everyone to see something unique in her, and that's why she can be longer in trends.
At the end of the day she is an icon, a universal brand that can be slapped on everything.
Official merchandise includes rock-guitars, airplanes and trains, dental clinics, toilets, the list goes on...
But if you dive down into the custom world, you can find semi-automatic rifle, chainsaws, cars etc.
And it is a genius indirect marketing move! The more absurd the merch becomes, the more this brand enters the culture and becomes even more popular.
Me, personally, I see this character as a great character buildup: This was my oneitis's favourite plush toy (i got cucked TWICE)
Hope you enjoyed the post!
@BigBallsLarry congrats on winning FUOTY!
@petsmart💯 @Histy @Gio.
