Editing Hello Kitty (section)

==History and reception==
[[File:Hello Kitty coin purse.jpg|thumb|left|Hello Kitty first appeared on a vinyl coin purse sold in Japan in 1975.<ref name="Anderson16">{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Kirsten |title=What Is the Story of Hello Kitty? |date=2019 |publisher=Penguin Random House |location=New York |pages=16–19 |isbn=9781524788391}}</ref><ref name="Phoenix40">{{cite book |last1=Phoenix |first1=Woodrow |title=Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World |date=2006 |publisher=Kodansha International |location=New York City |isbn=9784770030177 |page=40}}</ref>]]
The character's first appearance on an item was in March 1975 on a vinyl coin purse sold in Japan, where she was pictured sitting between a bottle of milk and a goldfish bowl.<ref name="Anderson16"/><ref name="Phoenix40"/><ref name="glamour2014">{{cite web |last1=Radloff |first1=Jessica |title=40 Awesome Photos to Celebrate Hello Kitty's 40th Anniversary! |url=https://www.glamour.com/story/40-awesome-photos-from-hello-k |website=Glamour |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=8 September 2021 |date=17 October 2014}}</ref> She first appeared in the [[United States]] in 1976 when Sanrio opened a Gift Gate store in [[San Jose, California]].<ref name="Dhamija">{{cite web|url=http://www.toydirectory.com/MONTHLY/Apr2003/designinspiration.asp|title=Designing an Icon: Hello Kitty Transcends Generational and Cultural Limits|last=Dhamija|first=Tina|date=1 April 2003|publisher=ToyDirectory|access-date=28 December 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206144021/http://toydirectory.com/MONTHLY/Apr2003/designinspiration.asp|archive-date=6 February 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Anderson45">{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Kirsten |title=What Is the Story of Hello Kitty? |date=2019 |publisher=Penguin Random House |location=New York |page=45 |isbn=9781524788391}}</ref>

Hello Kitty sold well immediately after her 1975 launch, and Sanrio's sales increased sevenfold.<ref name="nytimes2010" /> Due to Japan's growing economy, many Japanese children could afford to buy Hello Kitty products.<ref name="Anderson20">{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Kirsten |title=What Is the Story of Hello Kitty? |date=2019 |publisher=Penguin Random House |location=New York |pages=20–21 |isbn=9781524788391 |url=https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9781524788414 |access-date=25 October 2022 |archive-date=25 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025132253/https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9781524788414 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her popularity also grew with the emergence of ''[[kawaii]]'' culture, which embraces cuteness.<ref name="sfgate2004">{{cite news |last1=Gomez |first1=Edward |title=How Hello Kitty Came to Rule the World / With little advertising and no TV spinoff, Sanrio's 30-year-old feline turned cute into the ultimate brand |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/ASIAN-POP-How-Hello-Kitty-Came-to-Rule-the-World-3237700.php |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle|SF Gate]] |date=July 14, 2004|access-date=25 January 2020}}</ref>

[[UNICEF]] named Hello Kitty as children's ambassador to the United States in 1983, children's ambassador in Japan in 1994, and gave her the title of ''UNICEF Special Friend of Children'' in 2004, a title unique to her.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.un.org/en/delegate/5-surprising-facts-about-hello-kitty%C2%A0 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013114542/https://www.un.org/en/delegate/5-surprising-facts-about-hello-kitty%C2%A0 | archive-date=13 October 2022 | title=5 surprising facts about Hello Kitty &#124; United Nations |website=United Nations |date=3 May 2022 |access-date=13 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.sanriotown.com/kt_world:hellokitty.com/2007/03/23/unicef-special-friend-of-children/|date=23 March 2007|title=UNICEF Special Friend of Children|website=Sanriotown.com|access-date=1 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220010041/http://blog.sanriotown.com/kt_world:hellokitty.com/2007/03/23/unicef-special-friend-of-children/|archive-date=20 December 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20040610b6.html|title=Hello Kitty marks 30th birthday |date=10 June 2004|newspaper=The Japan Times Online|access-date=1 October 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219234220/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20040610b6.html|archivedate=19 December 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Originally, Hello Kitty was only marketed towards a child and preteen audience. In the 1990s, the target market for Hello Kitty was broadened to include teenagers and adults as a [[Retro style|retro brand]].<ref name="timeyamaguchi" /><ref name="independent" /> Marketing to those who could not get Hello Kitty merchandise as children, and those who fondly remember items they had, Sanrio began selling Hello Kitty branded products such as purses and laptops.<ref name="timeyamaguchi" /><ref name="independent" /><ref name="nytimes2010" /> The 1994–1996 ''Face'' series was the first to be designed specifically for mature consumers.<ref name="timeyamaguchi" />

The Hello Kitty brand rose to greater prominence internationally during the late 1990s. At that time, several celebrities, such as [[Mariah Carey]], had adopted Hello Kitty as a fashion statement.<ref name="independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/top-cat-how-hello-kitty-conquered-the-world-831522.html|title= Top cat: how 'Hello Kitty' conquered the world|last=Walker|first=Esther |date=21 May 2008|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=19 September 2008 | location=London}}</ref> New products featuring the character were made available in a large variety of American [[department store]]s.

Hello Kitty's popularity in Japan peaked in the late 1990s when she was the country's top-grossing character. In 2002, Hello Kitty lost her place as the top-grossing character in Japan in the Character Databank popularity chart. In a 2010 survey, she was in third place behind [[Anpanman]] and [[Pikachu]] from ''[[Pokémon]]''.<ref name="nytimes2010">{{cite news |title=In Search of Adorable, as Hello Kitty Gets Closer to Goodbye |first=Hiroko |last=Tabuchi |author-link=Hiroko Tabuchi |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=14 May 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/business/global/15kitty.html }}</ref> In 2010, ''[[The New York Times]]'' attributed the character's relative decline in Japan to her biography not being "compelling enough to draw many fans." The newspaper later wrote that analysts called the characterization "weak",<ref name="nytimes2010" /> and that Hello Kitty not having a mouth has dampened her success as an animated TV character.<ref name="nytimes2010" /> According to Character Databank, Hello Kitty was the third highest-grossing character in Japan as of 2013.<ref>{{cite book |title=CharaBiz DATA 2014(13) |year=2014 |publisher=Character Databank, Ltd. |url=https://www.charabiz.com/book_detail.php?tab=news&article_id=6568 |language=ja}}</ref> In 2019 and 2020, Character Databank ranked her fifth, and as of 2021 she was out of the top five.<ref>{{cite web |title=CharaBiz DATA 2019(18) |publisher=Character Databank, Ltd. |url=https://www.charabiz.com/book_detail.php?tab=news&article_id=10493 |website=www.charabiz.com |access-date=23 November 2022 |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=CharaBiz DATA 2020(19) |publisher=Character Databank, Ltd. |url=https://www.charabiz.com/book_detail.php?tab=news&article_id=11267 |website=www.charabiz.com |access-date=23 November 2022 |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=CharaBiz DATA 2021(20) |publisher=Character Databank, Ltd. |url=https://www.charabiz.com/book_detail.php?tab=news&article_id=12007 |website=www.charabiz.com |access-date=23 November 2022 |language=ja}}</ref>

Overseas, her global popularity has increased over the years.<ref name="nytimes2010" /> According to Sanrio, Hello Kitty was appearing on 12,000 new products each year as of 1999.<ref name="nytimes1999" /> Beginning in 2007, following trends in Japan, Sanrio began using darker designs for Hello Kitty with more black and less pink and pulled away from ''kawaii'' styles.<ref name="nytimes2010" /> By 2008, Hello Kitty was responsible for half of Sanrio's $1 billion net income, and there were over 50,000 different Hello Kitty branded products in more than 60 countries.<ref name="independent" /> By 2010 the character was worth {{US$|5 billion|long=no}} a year and ''[[The New York Times]]'' called her a "global marketing phenomenon".<ref name="nytimes2010" /> Worldwide annual sales reached {{US$|8 billion|long=no}} in 2013.<ref name="cnn"/>

In July 2008, the Dutch artist [[Dick Bruna]], creator of [[Miffy]], alleged that Hello Kitty is a copy of Miffy, being rendered in a similar style. He stated disapprovingly in an interview for the British newspaper ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'': "That [...] is a copy [of Miffy], I think. I don't like that at all. I always think, 'No, don't do that. Try to make something that you think of yourself'."<ref name="bruna">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/donotmigrate/3557810/Dick-Bruna-creator-of-the-Miffy-books-talks-about-his-life-and-work.html Dick Bruna, creator of the Miffy books, talks about his life and work ''The Daily Telegraph'', 31 July 2008],</ref> Mercis, the firm that managed copyrights for Bruna, took Sanrio to court over their Hello Kitty-associated character Cathy, a rabbit which made her first appearance in 1976 and which Mercis argued infringed the copyright for Miffy. A court in Amsterdam ruled in favour of Mercis in November 2010 and ordered Sanrio to stop the production and sale of merchandise featuring Cathy in the [[Benelux]] countries. However, in June 2011, the two companies announced that they had reached a settlement agreement to end their legal dispute. Sanrio stopped using the Cathy character, and the two firms jointly donated €150,000 for reconstruction after the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/japans-hello-kitty-resolves-bunny-battle-miffy-055851012.html |title=Japan's Hello Kitty resolves bunny battle with Miffy |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=8 June 2011 |website=[[news.yahoo.com]]|access-date=4 March 2017}}</ref>

As of 2014, 90% of the profits from Hello Kitty came from licensing of products for the international market.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://soranews24.com/2014/12/03/hello-kitty-is-really-international-now-making-90-of-her-money-abroad/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021035602/https://soranews24.com/2014/12/03/hello-kitty-is-really-international-now-making-90-of-her-money-abroad/ | archive-date=21 October 2020 | title=Hello Kitty now makes 90% of her money abroad | newspaper=Soranews24 -Japan News- | date=3 December 2014 }}</ref> She has been particularly popular in other Asian countries for decades, such as in China, where her cultural impact is comparable to that of [[Barbie]] in the Western world.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Prange |first1=Christiane |title=Market Entry in China: Case Studies on Strategy, Marketing, and Branding |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783319291390 |page=155 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nqkqDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA155}}</ref> In 2008, Japan named Hello Kitty the ambassador of Japanese tourism in both China and Hong Kong, marking the first time [[Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Japan)|Japan's tourism ministry]] had appointed a fictional character to the role.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24708771|title=Hello Kitty named Japan tourism ambassador|date=19 May 2008|work=[[NBC News]]|access-date=1 October 2008}}</ref> Sharon Kinsella, a lecturer at Oxford University on Japanese sociology, called the selection of Hello Kitty "a bit farcical ... as if a dumbed-down cultural icon ... can somehow do something significant to alter the gnarly and difficult state of [[China–Japan relations]]."<ref name="independent" />

In the United States, Hello Kitty is recognized by more than 80% of young adults in the 18–23 age group, {{as of|2016|lc=y}}.<ref name="Greffe">{{cite book |last1=Greffe |first1=Xavier |title=The Artist–Enterprise in the Digital Age |date=29 June 2016 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |isbn=978-4-431-55969-6 |page=127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4YuQDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 |quote=22,000 products, an annual turnover of half a billion dollars between 1978 and 2002, a recognition rate of more than 80% among young Americans in the 18–23 age group!}}</ref> In 2014 a four-day convention, Hello Kitty Con in [[Los Angeles]], attracted over 25,000 visitors. The convention was held in celebration of Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary.<ref name="Anderson89">{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Kirsten |title=What Is the Story of Hello Kitty? |date=2019 |publisher=Penguin Random House |location=New York |pages=89–90 |isbn=9781524788391}}</ref> Sanrio's [[Puroland]] Tokyo theme park also held a celebration spanning several days in November 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gotokyo.org/en/tourists/topics_event/topics/141028/topics.html |title=Hello Kitty's 40th Anniversary / Official Tokyo Travel Guide GO TOKYO |access-date=27 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907170324/http://www.gotokyo.org/en/tourists/topics_event/topics/141028/topics.html |archive-date=7 September 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>