Strange and Weird (and Cool) Things from Japan
Pandas are cute.
Japanese like cute things.
And everybody has to eat. What could therefore be more logical than this product?
This reminds me of the Virgin Mary fish stick and in a grilled cheese sandwhich. I think someone could make good money making a toaster like the Panda Toaster which burns images of Jesus on the toast.
Sanrio, never shy to produce a Hello Kitty product, surely had this idea: The Hello Kitty toaster.
Bon appetite!
I should have submitted my comments on Hello Kitty’s slutty side to Sanrio. Maybe they would’ve paid me off or something - because it seems that they are not at all afraid to exploit a, shall we say, more adult approach to their creation. It looks like Sanrio is worried that not enough people are buying Hello Kitty garbage merchandise. And so they are changing Hello Kitty into a whore to appeal to young men:
Speaking as a man, now, I can honestly say that this attempt is a failure. But then again I am not gay enough to represent any part of the Hello Kitty target audience. One has to wonder how any sane exec could possibly think that this will work. Then again, Japanese men are very metrosexual, so who knows.
(Via the BBC.)
Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun.
It looks like Sanrio offered a line of Paris Hilton themes Hello Kitty products in 2006. This was before Paris Hilton was jailed - but even back then it was well known that Paris Hilton had a, shall we say, very easygoing lifestyle.
One has to wonder: Is Paris Hilton really the imagine that Sanrio wants connected with Hello Kitty? And is it really a role model parents would wish their children to follow? The puppets and other stuff just look weird, but buying Paris Hilton to endorse them makes for a really screwy product line.
(Via Stippy.com.)
Although in all fairness the Tarot cards do not look like an officially licensed product.
More Hello Kitty stuff: This time, it’s the Hello Kitty Air Purifier.
It’s for your room…
…or your car!
List price seems to be 7140 Yen, about 43.75 Euro.
(Via Akihabara News.)
Yesterday, I tried to show you the Japanese obsession with Hello Kitty. Today’s wacky Japanese item is one that I feel will prove my point: I am talking, of course, about the infamous Hello Kitty Vibrator.
According to the JMate article, a company called Genyo produced this as a “shoulder massager” in 1997. The design was approved by Sanrio, the owner of Hello Kitty. The item was not officially intended for any “adult” purposes, but of course people quickly put the vibrating thing to other uses. By 1999 it had become a cult item in Japanese porn movies. Sanrio was less than happy, and eventually found an excuse to seize and destroy the molds.
This means that you’re probably out of luck if you want one of these, but it seems they are sometimes auctioned on eBay.