In 1974, Sanrio Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, introduced the Hello Kitty franchise. The first Hello Kitty item was a vinyl coin purse sold in Tokyo. In 1976, the franchise was introduced into the U.S. The Hello Kitty line has developed under licensing arrangements worth more than $1 billion a year in sales.^[3] Examples of products depicting the character include dolls, stickers and greeting cards to clothes, accessories, school supplies, dishes and home appliances.^[2] Sanrio Puroland is the official theme park of Sanrio featuring Hello Kitty and her friends.

The 30-bed Hau Sheng Hospital in Yuanlin in central Taiwan is reportedly the world’s first Hello Kitty themed medical establishment.

From blankets and birth certificates to cots and uniforms worn by staff, every aspect of the Hello Kitty hospital is emblazoned with the feline motif.

Patients are welcomed by a statue of Hello Kitty dressed in a doctor’s uniform, before travelling in a Hello Kitty elevator to a pink examination room with Hello Kitty posters on the wall.

The hospital’s director Tsai Tsung-chi opened the £2m (T$100m) hospital in his hometown after obtaining authorisation from the fictitious cat’s Japanese parent company Sanrio Co Ltd.

Describing the objectives of the hospital, he said: "I wish that everyone who comes here, mothers who suffer while giving birth and children who suffer from an illness, can get medical care while seeing these kitties and bring a smile to their faces, helping forget about discomfort and recover faster."

Among the first mothers to give birth in the Hello Kitty themed hospital was Chen Shing-chiu, 38, mother of a newborn baby boy.

"Unlike traditional hospitals that are mostly white, I feel this one is pretty good," she said. "I like Hello Kitty very much myself." Despite turning 34 years of age this year, Hello Kitty has retained a healthy army of fans both in her native Japan and overseas.

From gracing the cover of Japanese Vogue earlier this year to the launch of a Hello Kitty themed aeroplane, there are few aspects of society untouched by the nation’s love for the button-eyed feline

Miley Cyrus had a lot to smile about at the American Music Awards on Sunday, November 23. As a star-studded guest list of nominees and presenters made their Red Carpet arrivals at the NOKIA Theatre L.A. Live, teen sensation Miley Cyrus got her first surprise of the evening, a Kimora Lee Simmons for Hello Kitty special "Glam Kitty" necklace (3 carats of diamonds) from Entertainment Tonight’s Thea Andrews.

A fan of Hello Kitty jewelry, Miley’s reaction was priceless. "Hello Kitty’s my fave!" exclaimed Miley. "Oh, my Lord, it’s gorgeous! That is beautiful."

Fashion-minded fans who want to look like Miley can find more affordable Hello Kitty jewelry exclusively at Zales. The Hello Kitty by Simmons Jewelry Co. collection includes earrings, necklaces, charm bracelets and watches reflecting the Hello Kitty motif. Designs glimmer with colorful sapphires set in sterling silver that sell for suggested retail prices from $150 to $500. One fabulous piece, the "Lock and Key Kitty Pendant," retails for $995.

The Hello Kitty by Simmons Jewelry Co. collection debuted on Hello Kitty’s anniversary on November 1st at more than 1,000 Zale Corporation stores, in the Zales, Gordon’s, Peoples and Mappins divisions, throughout the U.S. and Canada. Zale Corporation is the exclusive partner in the launch of Hello Kitty by Simmons Jewelry Co.

I wish I had a better quality picture, but that’s just great! HSM + Pink Kitty!

In the past I’ve been posting stuff here and there, in my various blogs, but I will go strictly back to fashion on this one (provided it’s not related to HKO of course!), Kitty herself will intro to you about what this craze is all about below!

Now, the only other question is going to be, for those 20,000 lucky girls (and guys) who will become a founder, what does it mean to become a founder?

hmmmm, anyone wager a guess?

Posted by bbegirl Thursday July 17 2008 at 12:47AM originally on mmorpg -

So I came across this article:

http://www.zergwatch.com/News-288/MMORPG-Showdown-Hello-Kitty-vs-Toontown-Online.html

an interesting comment:

So while most of the MMORPG world is watching and waiting for a WoW KO of Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, my eyes are on the gritty powerstruggle that will ensue between Disney’s Toontown Online and Sanrio’s Hello Kitty Online.
Just from the pure gayness and pop-culture that surrounds Hello Kitty, my money is riding on Hello Kitty.

Well it’s great that you like Hello Kitty Online, but in keeping with some of the other posts I’ve seen, why do you all think Hello Kitty Online is for children first and then for older people later on? I’m not a child (at least age wise), and mosf of the beta players are not children either, infact I did not find any kids there at all, but maybe I chose not to meet them.

My point is, do away with the stereotype that pink and cute must mean it’s for kids, it’s not Club Penguin, it’s not Neo Pets. If you must know, Hello Kitty lovers go for this! And we think ourselves more as the below than as little kids.

I have been following with great interest the amount of interest and topical comments in the forums and elsewhere about Hello Kitty Online and it’s potential subscriber numbers and how it will be in the millions of millions, nobody seems to doubt that!

The most interesting one is the whole “Wow” Beater thing. Lots of games go out and claim they want to beat WoW, but why do we talk about HKO beating WoW? What amazes us about this topic? Does this mean that the world of Pink is here sooner than we all expect?

Well one image I found that I think you’ll find all amusing in all of this is this one from orcraider, ironically he too is on Hello Kitty blogging away!

Image courtest of Orcraider as originally posted on my MMORPG blog

Published under a creative commons derivate-attribution license 3.0