New comments from a senior Sanrio executive have proved divisive after it was revealed that the popular Hello Kitty is not a kitten. Her legend is being revisited ahead of her milestone 50th anniversary, with a slew of announcements, celebrations and merchandise.
Jill Cook, director of retail business development at Sanrio, the company that created Hello Kitty, shared that the famous kitten is not actually a cat. “She’s actually a little girl, born and raised in the suburbs of London! She has two parents and a twin sister, Mimmy, who is also her best friend. She loves baking cookies and making new friends!” she told NBC Today.
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Based on fan reaction and media reports, Hello Kitty’s revelation that she is a real person came as a huge surprise. “She weighs three apples and is five apples tall,” Cook added. She also has a boyfriend named Daniel, and the character’s human tendencies became clear when Cook shared that Kitty has her own cat, named Charmmy Kitty. Her comments follow Hello Kitty’s creator, Yuko Shimizu,’s recent appearance on BBC Witness History, recounting her real-world lore. “When [she] It was first designed, printed on a small wallet — a small wallet that was sold with 6 different characters.”
“However, as Hello Kitty outsold the others, the company decided to focus on developing it further, and that’s when the character got its name,” Shimizu continues. As fans know, the rest is history. She has collaborated with Nordstrom and Forever 21 on global fashion collaborations and campaigns with Claire’s, with in-store celebrations and CGI promotions. Meanwhile, it’s estimated that she brings in billions of dollars a year for her parent company, Sanrio. While fans may continue to mistake her for a cat, her impact on all things kawaii is unmistakable; she’s considered one of the few pioneers responsible for spreading the culture globally.
Source: NBC Today