Nez Riaz

Cultural Theory
Greta Method
May 2015
Hello Kitty: Commodifying Femininity
If I were to count on my fingers all the things I have owned that had Hello Kittys
expressionless face plastered onto it, I would not be able to get through just the things I have in
my small dorm room without needing more than two hands. Just in my room, I have a card
holder, a wallet, a thermos, band-aids, a mirror, several pens, and an embarrassingly intense
amount of socks. The fact that I am quickly attracted to and will invest in anything with Hello
Kitty on it, even for a significantly higher price, is less of problem for me than the issue in which
I am unclear on my convictions for why I am attracted to such an image with such little basis.
Hello Kitty, designed by Yuko Shimizu for Sanrio in 1974, is a mouthless cat with a red bow on
her left ear. She appeals to all ages and is an increasing image of nostalgia for adults who, along
with children everywhere, continue to contribute to Hello Kittys massive consumer market.
Despite her original color palette, current Hello Kitty products usually come in pink and are
decorated with bows, hearts, and other girlish decor. Despite her consumer base growing from
just little girls to worldwide recognition, Hello Kittys role as a symbol of femininity only grew.
Hello Kittys success rides the line of representing Japans stationary role of feminism in the
gender sphere or promoting these gender roles.
Hello Kitty made her consumer debut in 1974 on a clear, vinyl coin purse retailing for
240 yen, or about 2 US dollars. Since then, Hello Kitty has been printed on clothes, school

supplies, accessories, kitchen appliances, and virtually any other sellable material good aimed at
young girls. She has made appearances in television, theme parks, music, high fashion,
expensive jewelry, and even A330 Jets since EVA Air, based in Taipei, Taiwan, introduced three
new planes with a Hello Kitty theme. From the paint job to the services and items the airline
provides, including stickers, snacks, headrest covers, pillows, utensils, and meals, everything was
based around the Hello Kitty franchise. Hello Kittys merchandising empire started off small
enough that a specific young female market made sense and products were small and individual.
However, with the present day introduction of large venues and airplanes where a large audience
is needed to make profit, the market for Hello Kittys brand has expanded into anyone who will
buy into the brand, despite Hello Kitty products still maintaining a strong image of traditional
femininity.
Other character brands on Hello Kittys merchandising tier, such as Mickey Mouse or
Winnie the Pooh started their careers in books, cartoons, and movies, establishing themselves
with narrative counterparts before moving on to being product based characters. Hello Kitty,
however, was introduced as a brand character without a storyline, yet still was marketable
enough to become as successful as she is. Hello Kittys design is simple enough to create a quick
relationship with the viewer. The absence of her mouth allows the buyer to ascribe their emotions
onto the character. Her lack of storyline provided the flexibility for consumers to link the
character to their personal situations. Even the shapes in Hello Kittys design, all round and soft,
are ideal for marketing towards a younger, female audience, portraying the character as both safe
and cute. Despite her Japanese origins, brand management portrays Hello Kitty to be a cheerful
and energetic little girl who lives in London to ascribe to the fascination with European fashion

in Japan. Her height is described as being around five apples and weight is around three apples.
Her favorite food is homemade apple pie, and her hobbies include traveling, listening to music,
reading, eating cookies, and making new friends. Hello Kittys personality and descriptors are
vague and cutesy, making her a blank canvas for viewers to project themselves onto her and
achieve Hello Kittys sweet innocence. Hello Kitty is young and reflects the mannerisms of a
child, which are the ideal characteristics for grown women in Japan, as the strict patriarchy
promotes women accepting gender stereotypes. Much of kawaii culture in Japan relies on
references to excessively girly and young decor, almost an excess of accepting the gender
stereotype, and Hello Kitty fits into this category, both her products and her character.
The expansion of the Hello Kitty production was both in response and in promotion of
the growing international interest in the character. Even outside of Japan, the hyper-girliness of
Hello Kitty products was successful and intriguing. Expansion was done through third-party
collaborations with American and other Western companies after the sales in Japan were at a
peak. From 1974 to 1977, Sanrios profits grew immensely thanks to Hello Kitty and in 1980
Sanrio established a European office in Germany to kickstart the international market. The 1987
cartoon Hello Kittys Furry Tail Theater was a Japanese-American co-produced show that
reached a large target of young girls, and gave Hello Kittys audience the chance to see her talk,
move, and interact with other Sanrio characters. Having a love interest, a family, and friends
made Hello Kitty more relatable, and the Furry Tail premise of emulating a different fairy tale
in each episode gave lots of merchandising opportunity for Hello Kitty thanks to the several
outfits she wore in each episode. The Furry Tail Theater show also allowed Hello Kitty to
continuea story-line, as Hello Kitty adopted pre-existing stories, keeping her still vague enough

to be relatable. The choice to make Hello Kittys TV debut recreating fairy tales is indicative of
Sanrios initial audience and the clear promotion of the gender stereotypes enforced in Disneyesque princess stories.
Third-party collaboration continued into the 1990s when the Hello Kitty meal deal came
out in McDonalds, with Hello Kitty merchandise being sold with every meal. Consumers were
throwing away their hamburgers with their only interest being the special edition dolls being
sold. Hello Kittys first collaboration was in 1996 with a local electronics chain, but the
McDonalds deal that came out 3 years later is what showed the power of consumer interest
worldwide when it comes to Hello Kittys iconography.
As Hello Kittys initial customer base got older, more products began capitalizing on
nostalgia and gearing parts of the market towards the aging generation. Hello Kittys product line
expanded to include products for young women that still promoted the gender roles women were
expected to maintain. Products such as vacuum cleaners, toasters, kitchen supplies, themed
toiletries, and motor scooters were sold. Sanrio evolved Hello Kitty along with her fan-base and
in doing so dictated how women should be growing up and what products they were expected to
buy to achieve femininity.
Hello Kitty introduced herself to online communities through a social networking portal
called Sanriotown which provided a platform for fans to discuss their emotional attachment to
Hello Kitty and use hellokitty.com as a domain. Sanriotown also had a multiplayer virtual world
where users could personally connect with Hello Kitty and her friends through an avatar. The
virtual world, pink and pastel and covered in sweets and bows is clearly directed towards a
female market. This is made clear through the character creation options in the game, where the

user can only choose to be female. Sanrio used the internet to appeal to a newer generation of
kids and an age gap in between where the previous products were marketed at. With baby toys to
blenders, the diversity of products ensures that anyone growing up with the Hello Kitty brand
will have a binary definition of femininity instilled into them.
Over several decades, Hello Kitty as an feminine icon has adapted and expanded without
her popularity faltering. Hello Kittys longevity exemplifies Sanrios effective strategies in
building, managing, and sustaining Hello Kitty as a brand character and as a symbol of what
ideal femininity is. This was done successfully by implementing mass marketing strategies
such as licensing, third-party collaboration, brand and line extension, creating an online
presence, and associating with events and celebrities that fell in line with Japans patriarchal
stereotypes of femininity.
While Hello Kitty does project an unrealistic image of femininity, how a consumer
chooses to intake Hello Kitty is a personal choice and those who do buy Hello Kitty products are
likely seeking out this image of femininity. Hello Kittys popularity in Japan has declined since
the 1970s, but her success internationally is still relevant. Japans relationship with femininity is
still focused on a hyperbolic version with kawaii culture still active, but the consumerism of
Hello Kitty has become more of a statement about nostalgia and iconography than femininity
now. Hello Kitty as an image is loved everywhere because of her production value and her preestablished recognition. The consumption of her femininity is a choice, but the fact that Hello
Kitty is representation of extreme ideals of feminine stereotypes is undeniable. Representation of
a successful symbol of femininity is encouraging to young women who relate to that description
of femininity and dont want to associate male stereotype to success and power and in that way,

Hello Kitty is a positive influence. In the context of Japanese ideals for women, Hello Kitty
subverts no stereotypes, especially in her early creation. Hello Kittys positive influence for the
image of femininity is because of her success, but the road to her success was due to the need to
commodify the expectations for femininity.
As our generations grow older and technology evolves, Hello Kitty will likely evolve
along side, adopting new ways of expressing femininity, appealing to new sides of the
commercial market and rebranding herself into a symbol, all the while remaining expressionless.

Works Cited
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