Cat Content’s mother: Hello Kitty turns 50

Kitty White – that is Hello Kitty’s full name – was “born” on November 1, 1974 in a suburb of London. According to business legend, she weighs three apples, is five apples tall and loves her mother’s pie: apple pie.

Expert: “Hello Kitty’s face is a blank canvas”
Unlike the otherwise expressive Kawaii cartoon characters, the figure shows no emotions – he doesn’t even have a mouth. “Hello Kitty’s face is a blank canvas onto which anyone can project their own feelings,” says Tokyo author Andreas Neuenkirchen, who has written about the cat character in a nonfiction book. Despite this – or perhaps even because of it – Kitty is the queen of the cute, sometimes kitschy Japanese character world.

Anthropologist: ‘Emptiness gives her an attraction’
Sanrio describes Hello Kitty as “cheerful and friendly” – qualities that appeal to people around the world and make the character popular across cultures. It doesn’t matter that she lives with her twin sister Mimmy and her parents or likes to bake cookies. “A lot of people don’t know the story at all, and most people don’t care about it,” said anthropologist Christine Yano in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “You can give her a guitar, you can put her on stage, you can portray her as she is. That emptiness makes her attractive to so many types of people.”

60 new products with Hello Kitty images every month
The cute character was first seen on a transparent children’s wallet. Almost 50 years later you can find them (almost) everywhere: on pens, on bedding or kitchen appliances, in exclusive designer collections and even on airplanes. “There is hardly a country where Hello Kitty does not appear,” says Neuenkirchen. A billion-dollar business for the company from Japan. “Sanrio has made Hello Kitty one of the most successful licensed brands in the world,” he explains. “Every month, 600 new products come onto the market and 600 old ones disappear.”

The company owes its international success mainly to its flexible marketing, Neuenkirchen explains. “While other companies such as Disney tightly control licensing rights, Sanrio is very open about this.” In the more than 130 countries where Kitty products are sold, the design can be specifically adapted to the target group. “In France, for example, Hello Kitty didn’t arrive until she grew eyelashes; In Italy there are even wines with the Hello Kitty label – something that would be unthinkable in Japan.” For example, when a vibrating shoulder massager known as the “Hello Kitty vibrator” caused outrage at Sanrio – and amusement around the world.

The stimulator with the iconic cat’s head was a topic of discussion:

The fact that she comes from London has nothing to do with targeted internationalization, Neuenkirchen explains. “In the 1970s, many Japanese girls dreamed of the Western world, especially London and Paris.” The biography was therefore created exactly according to the taste of the time, confirms anthropologist Christine Yano: “They loved the idea of ​​Great Britain. . It was the embodiment of an idealized childhood, almost like a white picket fence.”

Adult products are also popular
And these women still love the cult figure today. “Many women who loved Hello Kitty as girls are excited to see her on adult products,” notes Neuenkirchen. As early as the 1980s, Yuko Yamaguchi, Kitty’s third designer, is said to have surveyed fans and discovered that even in adulthood they did not want to miss their beloved figure. “That led to the idea of ​​developing products for adults – a strategy that still works very well today.”

Instagram not only presents new products, but also shares positive mantras:

Shock ten years ago: Hello Kitty is not a cat
The simple design plays in your hands. “She is a very innocent character, so she cannot cause controversy anywhere,” says Neuenkirchen. So the headline shortly before her 40th birthday in 2014 that Hello Kitty wasn’t a cat was probably the most shocking thing fans learned about the character.

Sanrio then came back and said, “If you want, you can see a cat in Hello Kitty – even if it’s wrong,” says Neuenkirchen. “There are also women who see her as a feminist figure – perhaps out of defiance or irony. The message behind it is: ‘I can be cute and still strong.’” Perhaps also to give her – human or animal – a voice.

Cult figure may even come to the cinema
The 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty is being celebrated worldwide: influencers are showing their favorite fashion products with the cat figure on social media, in Cologne fans can immerse themselves in a pink world in the “Supercandy Pop-Up Museum” and Sanrio even has a website in honor her made Career honored in a timeline. There’s also a promising hint at a movie project. “There has been talk of a big Hello Kitty movie for years and after the successes of Barbie and Super Mario, that would be a logical step,” says Neuenkirchen. “If Sanrio remains flexible and responds to trends, Hello Kitty will be around for a long time. It remains to be seen whether this will be achieved with a film.”