History of Hello Kitty

German:
Hello Kitty (♥♥♥. ハローキティ, Harō kiti) ist eine von vielen fiktiven Figuren der japanischen Firma Sanrio in Katzengestalt. Auf Deutsch bedeutet Hello Kitty „Hallo Kätzchen“. Die Produkte der Reihe, die 1976 entwickelt und als Markenzeichen geschützt wurde, zeichnen sich durch die vorwiegend rosafarbene Gestaltung und das typische Hello-Kitty-Logo aus. Die Hello-Kitty-Figur ist eine kleine weiße Katze oder nur deren Kopf mit einer roten Schleife oder einer anderen Dekoration an ihrem linken Ohr. Hello Kitty ähnelt der Comicfigur Miffy, welche 1955 von ♥♥♥♥ Bruna erfunden wurde.

English:
Hello Kitty (ハローキティ Harō Kiti?)[3] (full name Kitty White)[2] is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. She is portrayed as a female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow.[1] The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974 and brought to the United States in 1976.[4][5] The character is a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture.[6]

The Hello Kitty trademark has spread globally; Sanrio earned over $1 billion annually in sales outside of Japan, as of 2003.[7] Although mainly aimed at the pre-adolescent female market, the Hello Kitty product range goes all the way from purses, stickers and pen sets to toasters, televisions, clothing, massagers, and computer equipment. It has a cult-like following among adults as well, especially in Asia, where Hello Kitty adorns cars, purses, jewelry and many other high-end consumer products. Several Hello Kitty TV series, targeted towards young children, has also been produced. Examples of products depicting the character include dolls, stickers, greeting cards, clothes, accessories, school supplies, dishes and home appliances.[8] Her fame as a recurring Sanrio character has led to the creation of two officially licensed Hello Kitty theme parks, Harmonyland and the indoor Sanrio Puroland.