‘CEO of Supercute’: Hello Kitty Turns 50

In this picture taken on October 19, 2024, Helen, founder of the “Hello Kitty SoCal Babes” fan club, poses with her collection inside her "she-shed" in Riverside County, California. (AFP)
In this picture taken on October 19, 2024, Helen, founder of the “Hello Kitty SoCal Babes” fan club, poses with her collection inside her "she-shed" in Riverside County, California. (AFP)
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‘CEO of Supercute’: Hello Kitty Turns 50

In this picture taken on October 19, 2024, Helen, founder of the “Hello Kitty SoCal Babes” fan club, poses with her collection inside her "she-shed" in Riverside County, California. (AFP)
In this picture taken on October 19, 2024, Helen, founder of the “Hello Kitty SoCal Babes” fan club, poses with her collection inside her "she-shed" in Riverside County, California. (AFP)

Hello Kitty, the cute, enigmatic character that adorns everything from handbags to rice cookers, turns 50 on Friday -- and is still making millions for her Japanese creators.

The simple design of the character -- who is not a cat, but a little girl from London according to Sanrio, the company behind Kitty -- has mileage as a money-spinner for years to come, experts say.

One woman in the US state of California has amassed so much Hello Kitty merchandise that her husband built her a pink so-called "she-shed" to keep it in.

Stuffed inside are thousands of toys and other items featuring Kitty and her eye-catching red bow, including rows of sunglasses, a swivel chair and novelty gumball dispensers.

"People my age, you know, we are told many times, 'Hello Kitty is for little kids,' and I laugh at that," said Helen from Riverside County, conceding she is "50-plus".

Helen, who drives a Hello Kitty-decorated SUV and runs the local fan club "Hello Kitty SoCal Babes", has been "obsessed" with the character since its 1970s US debut.

Her vast collection of Hello Kitty plushies "make me feel warm", she said, describing spending hours among the soft toys, many of them rare, on a regular basis.

"Something in my inner child gets healed," she said.

Hello Kitty started life as an illustration on a vinyl coin purse.

It has since appeared on tens of thousands of products -- official and unofficial -- including tie-ups with Adidas, Balenciaga and other top brands.

The phenomenon shows no sign of slowing, with a Warner Bros movie in the pipeline and a new Hello Kitty theme park due to open next year on China's tropical Hainan island.

Sanrio's share price has soared more than seven-fold, pushing its market cap over one trillion yen ($6.8 billion), since young CEO Tomokuni Tsuji took over from his grandfather in 2020.

- 'Pure product' -

"We'd be foolishly cynical to say that we don't need these soft, fluffy, pink things," Christine R. Yano of the University of Hawaii told AFP.

In fact, "given the fraught nature of our contemporary lives, perhaps we need it now more than ever", said Yano, author of the book "Pink Globalization" about Hello Kitty.

"This is not a phenomenon that has died or is going to die, at least soon," she added.

Unlike other Japanese cultural exports such as Pokemon or Dragon Ball, there is minimal narrative around the character, whose full name is Kitty White.

She has a twin sister Mimmy, a boyfriend called Dear Daniel, and a pet cat of her own, Sanrio says. She loves her mother's apple pie and dreams of becoming a pianist or poet.

The rest is left to fans' imaginations -- just like the "abstract, bare design that can speak with a kind of simplicity and elegance to more people", Yano said.

"I call her a pure product," the researcher added.

Some feminists say Hello Kitty's lack of a mouth is a symbol of disempowerment, but Yuko Akiyama, Sanrio's head of global brand management, said it allows the character to "reflect" different emotions.

"So if they're sad, Hello Kitty will comfort you. If you are happy, Hello Kitty is there to share the happiness with you," Akiyama said.

- Kawaii -

Famous Hello Kitty fans include Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry, and her appeal extends to royalty: Britain's King Charles wished her a happy birthday this year.

On Hello Kitty's TikTok account -- whose bio is "CEO of supercute" -- sardonic memes and footage from "Hello Kitty Day" at US baseball games delight 3.5 million followers.

Hello Kitty is the epitome of Japan's "kawaii", or cute, soft power, and she is the mascot of a campaign promoting tourist etiquette in Tokyo.

Posters celebrating the 50th anniversary are on display at Sanrio Puroland theme park, where businesswoman Kim Lu from Manila had brought her four-year-old niece during their holiday.

"This really is our priority here in Tokyo," she said.

"To be honest, we really don't know" the reason for Hello Kitty's ineffable success, said Lu, 36.

"I think it's the kawaii charm."

Sanrio owns the copyright to hundreds of other popular characters, and Hello Kitty now accounts for 30 percent of profits, down from 75 percent a decade ago.

But Kitty is still a favorite of 23-year-old Rio Ueno, who took an overnight bus from Japan's northern Niigata region to visit the park with a friend.

"I've had Kitty goods around me since I was a small child," said Ueno, dressed in a fluffy Hello Kitty sweater, sporting a Kitty bag, and clutching a Kitty doll.

"She is someone who is always close to me, and I want it to stay that way."



Australia Moves to Ban Children Under 16 from Social Media

Australia's government says unchecked social media algorithms are serving up disturbing content to highly impressionable children and teenagers. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File
Australia's government says unchecked social media algorithms are serving up disturbing content to highly impressionable children and teenagers. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File
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Australia Moves to Ban Children Under 16 from Social Media

Australia's government says unchecked social media algorithms are serving up disturbing content to highly impressionable children and teenagers. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File
Australia's government says unchecked social media algorithms are serving up disturbing content to highly impressionable children and teenagers. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File

Australia's prime minister on Thursday vowed to ban children under 16 from social media, saying the pervasive influence of platforms like Facebook and TikTok was "doing real harm to our kids".
The tech giants would be held responsible for enforcing the age limit and face hefty fines if regulators notice young users slipping through the cracks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Australia is among the vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media, and the proposed age limit would be among the world's strictest measures aimed at children, AFP said.
"This one is for the mums and dads. Social media is doing real harm to kids and I'm calling time on it," Albanese told reporters outside parliament.
The new laws would be presented to state and territory leaders this week, before being introduced to parliament in late November.
Once passed, the tech platforms would be given a one-year grace period to figure out how to implement and enforce the ban.
"The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access," Albanese said, explaining what he dubbed a "world-leading" reform.
"The onus won't be on parents or young people."
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it would "respect any age limitations the government wants to introduce".
But Antigone Davis, Meta's head of safety, said Australia should think carefully about how these restrictions were implemented.
She said poorly drafted laws "risk making ourselves feel better, like we have taken action, but teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place".
Snapchat pointed to a statement from industry body DIGI, which warned that a ban could stop teenagers from accessing "mental health support".
"Swimming has risks, but we don't ban young people from the beach, we teach them to swim between the flags," a DIGI spokeswoman said.
TikTok said it had nothing to add at this stage.
'Falling short'
Once celebrated as a means of staying connected and informed, social media platforms have been tarnished by cyberbullying, the spread of illegal content, and election-meddling claims.
"I get things popping up on my system that I don't want to see. Let alone a vulnerable 14-year-old," Albanese said.
"Young women see images of particular body shapes that have a real impact."
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said social media companies were repeatedly "falling short" in their obligations.
"Social media companies have been put on notice. They need to ensure their practices are made safer," she told reporters at a press briefing alongside Albanese.
Rowland said companies like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Elon Musk's X would face financial penalties if they flouted the laws.
While Rowland did not detail how big these would be, she suggested fines of US$600,000 (Aus $1 million) were well below the mark for companies boasting yearly revenues in the tens of billions of dollars.
Analysts have expressed doubt it would be technically feasible to enforce a strict age ban.
"We already know that present age verification methods are unreliable, too easy to circumvent, or risk user privacy," University of Melbourne researcher Toby Murray said earlier this year.
A series of exemptions would be hashed out for platforms such as YouTube that teenagers may need to use for school work or other reasons.
Australia has in recent years ramped up efforts to regulate the tech giants, with mixed success.
A "combating misinformation" bill was introduced earlier this year, outlining sweeping powers to fine tech companies for breaching online safety obligations.
It has also moved to outlaw the sharing of so-called "deepfake" pornography without consent.
But attempts to regulate content on Musk's X -- previously known as Twitter -- have become bogged down in a long-running courtroom battle.
The tech mogul likened the Australian government to "fascists" earlier this year after they announced they would crack down on fake news.
Several other countries have been tightening children's access to social media platforms.
Spain passed a law in June banning social media access to under-16s.
But in both cases the age verification method has yet to be determined.
France passed laws in 2023 that require social media platforms to verify users' ages -- and obtain parental consent if they are younger than 15.
China has restricted access for minors since 2021, with under-14s not allowed to spend more than 40 minutes a day on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
Online gaming time for children is also limited in China.