analysis of Hello Kitty addition
i found a few things online today about Hello Kitty and why there is such an obsession with her and it's all really interesting.
first there is girl who has blog about spending a day doing something she normally wouldn't do. one day she decided to try being an obsessive Hello Kitty fan so she could see what the fuss was about and how people treated her. basically, they treated her like a leper. i think that's weird cos i'm one of those people that is always wearing something with Kitty on it and no one says shit to me! i usually get positive feedback. but then again, i don't go around telling people that Hello Kitty will make their life happier (even if it's true). i'm pretty sure the people were just reacting to her crappy attempt at DIY Kitty jewelery. i say this because a REAL HK fan wouldn't have a piece of cardboard around their neck, but an honest to god licensed necklace (the super fans shell out big bucks for Kimora Lee Simmons or Tarina Tarantino). if you want people to believe you're really devoted to Kitty (and not some weirdo) then you need to sacrifice your money to her! if i walked around with a piece of cardboard HK necklace people would look at me like i was weird too! you can't half ass your devotion! over all, i found her experiment really funny and not at all what a real Kitty fan would experience. people love me! yeah, i get picked on a bit by friends about Kitty, but it's all in fun. no one has ever been rude to me because i have on HK hair clips or necklace. i really don't understand why anyone would.
the second thing i found is a lecture by a man who wrote a book on Kitty and her billion dollar industry. he talks about why people get attached to her more than any other brand symbol and how that Sanrio makes billions of dollars without having to do hardly any advertising at all. Hello Kitty fans seek each other out and gush about her together (it's a lot easier since we have our own social networking site!). there is just something about Kitty that makes it easy to want to buy more and more of her products. which then grows into an addiction.
here is lecture:
the HK addiction itself gets many haters. i particularly like what Hello Kitty Hell had to say because every single word of it is true.
"October is the start of the worst three months if you happen to live with a Hello Kitty fanatic. The main issue is that the evil feline has her birthday on November 1 which is like giving the Hello Kitty fanatic vast amounts of crack cocaine every day for the entire month preceding it. Halloween only feeds into the frenzy because the holiday gives the fanatic an excuse to actually dress up as Hello Kitty under the guise of a Halloween costume even though we all know this is what she would prefer to wear on a daily basis. The result is that Halloween pretty much guarantees that Hello Kitty pumpkins are going to be carved and Hello Kitty costumes are coming out of the closet to be worn way too many times. Then when the birthday ends, good old Christmas is just around the corner and all the Hello Kitty gifts the Hello Kitty fanatic imagines she will receive continue to ensure that Hello Kitty Hell will be burning red hot into the New Year."
as i sit here typing this i am wearing my Hello Kitty ears. yes, they are supposed to be part of my halloween costume, but sometimes (ok, a lot of times) when i'm at my desk where i keep them i just put them on. not to mention that i AM carving a Hello Kitty pumpkin, i am crazy excited about her 35th anniversary coming up (and all the special collectibles that brings), and i'm freaking pumped for xmas and all the new items that will bring to my collection. it's really interesting that this one simple drawing of a mouthless cat can drive so many people crazy for it. there are mickey mouse fans, but not ones as insane about it as the Kitty people. my aunt is mickey fan and she has some figures and sweatshirts and whatever, but she would NEVER drop the kind of money i have dropped for my things. it's totally irrational. it's totally against everything i believe about money (i hate capitalism). but i do it anyway because i love her and want everything she comes out with. if i have a choice between something plain or the same thing with HK on it, i HAVE to have the HK one. chris just got me an HK flash drive that is encrusted with rhinestones in the shape of her face. i never had a flash drive before, but i always knew that if i got one it had to be the Kitty one. if i was rich my Kitty collection would be out of control!
so maybe this has given all of non Kitty loving friends some sort of insight on what it's like being completely and totally obsessed with her. i still can't explain exactly why when i see her i have a reaction similar to a crack addict looking at a fresh rock i bought off a dealer, but i do. maybe some day we will explore the Kitty region of the brain! until then, this is the only explanation i can come up with.
ps. cuppykate made me the super cool Tokidoki Unico blinkie. go join her blinkie community blinkieville
first there is girl who has blog about spending a day doing something she normally wouldn't do. one day she decided to try being an obsessive Hello Kitty fan so she could see what the fuss was about and how people treated her. basically, they treated her like a leper. i think that's weird cos i'm one of those people that is always wearing something with Kitty on it and no one says shit to me! i usually get positive feedback. but then again, i don't go around telling people that Hello Kitty will make their life happier (even if it's true). i'm pretty sure the people were just reacting to her crappy attempt at DIY Kitty jewelery. i say this because a REAL HK fan wouldn't have a piece of cardboard around their neck, but an honest to god licensed necklace (the super fans shell out big bucks for Kimora Lee Simmons or Tarina Tarantino). if you want people to believe you're really devoted to Kitty (and not some weirdo) then you need to sacrifice your money to her! if i walked around with a piece of cardboard HK necklace people would look at me like i was weird too! you can't half ass your devotion! over all, i found her experiment really funny and not at all what a real Kitty fan would experience. people love me! yeah, i get picked on a bit by friends about Kitty, but it's all in fun. no one has ever been rude to me because i have on HK hair clips or necklace. i really don't understand why anyone would.
the second thing i found is a lecture by a man who wrote a book on Kitty and her billion dollar industry. he talks about why people get attached to her more than any other brand symbol and how that Sanrio makes billions of dollars without having to do hardly any advertising at all. Hello Kitty fans seek each other out and gush about her together (it's a lot easier since we have our own social networking site!). there is just something about Kitty that makes it easy to want to buy more and more of her products. which then grows into an addiction.
here is lecture:
Click to viewthe HK addiction itself gets many haters. i particularly like what Hello Kitty Hell had to say because every single word of it is true.
"October is the start of the worst three months if you happen to live with a Hello Kitty fanatic. The main issue is that the evil feline has her birthday on November 1 which is like giving the Hello Kitty fanatic vast amounts of crack cocaine every day for the entire month preceding it. Halloween only feeds into the frenzy because the holiday gives the fanatic an excuse to actually dress up as Hello Kitty under the guise of a Halloween costume even though we all know this is what she would prefer to wear on a daily basis. The result is that Halloween pretty much guarantees that Hello Kitty pumpkins are going to be carved and Hello Kitty costumes are coming out of the closet to be worn way too many times. Then when the birthday ends, good old Christmas is just around the corner and all the Hello Kitty gifts the Hello Kitty fanatic imagines she will receive continue to ensure that Hello Kitty Hell will be burning red hot into the New Year."
as i sit here typing this i am wearing my Hello Kitty ears. yes, they are supposed to be part of my halloween costume, but sometimes (ok, a lot of times) when i'm at my desk where i keep them i just put them on. not to mention that i AM carving a Hello Kitty pumpkin, i am crazy excited about her 35th anniversary coming up (and all the special collectibles that brings), and i'm freaking pumped for xmas and all the new items that will bring to my collection. it's really interesting that this one simple drawing of a mouthless cat can drive so many people crazy for it. there are mickey mouse fans, but not ones as insane about it as the Kitty people. my aunt is mickey fan and she has some figures and sweatshirts and whatever, but she would NEVER drop the kind of money i have dropped for my things. it's totally irrational. it's totally against everything i believe about money (i hate capitalism). but i do it anyway because i love her and want everything she comes out with. if i have a choice between something plain or the same thing with HK on it, i HAVE to have the HK one. chris just got me an HK flash drive that is encrusted with rhinestones in the shape of her face. i never had a flash drive before, but i always knew that if i got one it had to be the Kitty one. if i was rich my Kitty collection would be out of control!
so maybe this has given all of non Kitty loving friends some sort of insight on what it's like being completely and totally obsessed with her. i still can't explain exactly why when i see her i have a reaction similar to a crack addict looking at a fresh rock i bought off a dealer, but i do. maybe some day we will explore the Kitty region of the brain! until then, this is the only explanation i can come up with.
ps. cuppykate made me the super cool Tokidoki Unico blinkie. go join her blinkie community blinkieville