As the feline turns 40 she's more powerful than ever. But how did she become a brand worth $7bn? Hello Kitty诞生40周年之际，越发风靡世界。它如何成为价值70亿美元的品牌？ After Japan, Singapore was the first to suffer an outbreak. In 2000, a shortage of toys displaying the beloved cat at one of the city's McDonald's restaurants led to the unleashing of darker, violent instincts when a riot ensued. Seven people were injured and three taken to hospital for treatment. That was just the beginning. Now, what is left of our species, children and adults alike, have succumbed, making 'Kitty chan', as she is better known in Japan, one of the most recognisable graphics on Earth. Hello Kitty turns 40 this autumn, and we can now see that she was the Trojan Horse that led to the global domination of Japanese 'cute culture'. From Marrakech to Honolulu, the ubiquitous red-ribboned cat now stands top-tier in any toy display. Googling Mickey Mouse reaps about 23 million results. Search Hello Kitty, however, and you'll find the kitten, which is basically just a narrative-free, trademarked drawing, garners 10 million more. 如今，这只风靡日本的小猫咪( Kitty chan)已成为世界最著名动画人物之一Hello Kitty，深受成年人与儿童喜爱。2014年秋季，Hello Kitty将迎来40岁生日。它已成为日本“可爱文化”( cute culture)风靡世界的“特洛伊木马”。从马拉喀什(Marrakech)到火奴鲁鲁(Honolulu)，这只头戴红色蝴蝶结的小猫在各种玩具展览中广受欢迎。假如你谷歌搜索“米奇老鼠”，将有230万个搜索结果；但如果搜索“Hello Kitty”，你将得到100万个搜索结果，尽管它只是个不会说话，商业图标以及有1000多万用户的游戏。 Kitty-shaped guitars and even Hello Kitty tombstones abound. The famous feline, originally drawn by designer Yuko Shimizu to appeal to kindergarten children, has been adopted as a style icon by the likes of Lady Gaga. Remarkably, such world-domination has been achieved with little advertising; relying instead on word-of-mouth. Now Hello Kitty appears on over 50,000 products that are sold in more than 70 countries, and is a brand worth $7bn. The company that holds the copyright, Sanrio, makes around $759m in annual revenue off the cat alone. So, why have we all become such pushovers for the feline? "Kitty's appeal is that she's an emotional blank slate. As one of her designers told me: 'Kitty feels like you do,'" explains Roland Nozomu Kelts, the author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the US. "We project upon that mouth-less, expressionless kitten, making her the perfectly interactive toy or doll or marketing tool in an age where interactivity is not only desired, it's expected." But why has Hello Kitty made such a foothold in Europe and the United States? Perhaps it is because the western democracies in the past decade have encountered problems similar to those Japan has faced since the 90s: deflation, more work for less pay, an ageing demographic and an unhealthy obsession with youth. Even the once hard-bitten British are falling for Hello Kitty and Osaka-based musician and cultural commentator Nick Currie thinks he knows why. "Hello Kitty symbolises some essential Japanese virtues: agreeableness, harmony, commerce, cuteness, nature, fertility, affluence and the avoidance of aggression," he says. "She [also] represents the irresistible idiocy of consumer culture, hardwired to our neurological system. We shop with almost the same reflexes that make us stretch out to stroke a big-eyed, fluffy kitten." That may be a universal impulse. 精彩推荐：企业英语培训 http://www.spiikers.com/ 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/205b41990c22590102029db3.html