Do Japanese consumers consider Hello Kitty to be mostly for children, or are there serious adult collectors?
In researching our book, we interviewed serious Kitty lovers and collectors across Asia. Some are looking for a little cuteness or camp to cheer up an otherwise high-speed professional life that can be pretty weary. Some want to harken back to a time, in their childhood, when they felt more protected or innocent. Still others really hate cute little things like Hello Kitty but collect the stuff, nonetheless, to make a counter-fashion statement. It is all over the map. Any theories on why Hello Kitty became such a hit? Why does a simple cartoon logo have so much appeal? Two theories: One is that Hello Kitty somehow touches upon an archetype, one of the unconscious human desires just about everyone shares. She represents purity, cuteness, and innocence and girls seem to respond to that even at different stages of their life. The other theory is her Zen-like, undefined quality we mentioned earlier in this interview. Hello Kitty doesn t have a body of film work or comic strips that define
