Photo: AP via Mainichi MSN: Hello Kitty to Promote Eva Airways Hello Kitty, Asia's can't-miss marketing symbol, has been enlisted once again -- this time by a Taiwanese airline eager to carry more passengers to Japan. Eva Airways Corp., the island's second-largest airline, said an Airbus A300-200 painted with the yellow cartoon cat will be used on its daily Taipei-Fukuoka flight starting Saturday. It said the Hello Kitty theme would extend to the plane's interior -- and to its cutlery, boarding passes, and even flight attendant uniforms...more...
...Intending to promote "creativity and innovation", EVA Air introduced the Hello Kitty aircraft last year after two years of negotiation with Sanrio. The aircraft now operates daily between Taipei and Fukuoka, Japan. The Hello Kitty theme is pursued with mind-boggling thoroughness: the airline issues pink Hello Kitty boarding passes and luggage tags to passengers, and serves Hello Kitty meals and Hello Kitty duty-free shopping. Even the airsickness bags are Hello Kitty-themed (bidding starts at US$9.99 on eBay)...In Taiwan, Kitty has historically meant a rapid increase in sales. In the summer of 1999, Taiwan McDonald's emulated its Hong Kong counterpart by launching its first stuffed Hello Kitty doll. The first week's ration of 500,000 dolls was sold out in four hours. The frenzy continued for more than a month, with the fast-food company's weekly quota depleted by Monday morning; a total of 2.5 million Hello Kitty dolls were distributed...From a marketing perspective, Sharon Chen, strategy director at J Walter Thompson Co China, explained, "Hello Kitty means classic and eternal value. Other things will come and go, but Hello Kitty will stay"...more...
Mulboyne wrote:Even the airsickness bags are Hello Kitty-themed
Now that is fcked!
Mr. Sparkle Member - FG Iliterati
"I am interested in the relationship of the lower part of the human body and the lower part of the social structure on which the reality of daily Japanese life obstinately supports itself."