Fans of Hello Kitty, a popular Japanese cartoon character, yesterday morning lined up outside the Taipei Beimen Post Office, as Chunaghwa Post and Sanrio Co launched a series of cobrand products featuring the cartoon cat.
Hello Kitty is a global superstar, whose popularity has already lasted for 45 years, Chunghwa Post chairman Wu Hung-mo (吳宏謀) said at the product launch ceremony, marking the company’s first cooperation with the Tokyo-based firm that designs, licenses and manufactures products featuring popular Japanese cartoon characters.
The secret to the character’s enduring popularity is that Sanrio continues to design products that keep up with the times, Wu said.
Photo courtesy of Chunghwa Post
Some who fell in love with Hello Kitty 45 years ago are now grandparents and share their passion with their grandchildren, he added.
Hello Kitty does not have a mouth, so she does not have to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wu said, adding that the cartoon character helps keep people happy and healthy.
Chunghwa Post and Sanrio have worked together to develop nine Hello Kitty-themed products that people can send as gifts to their relatives during the holiday season, Wu said.
The products include greeting cards, tote bags, thermo bottles, a cooking pot, sticky notes and tape.
“We hope that the products will draw younger people to our services, which few of them purchase nowadays,” he said.
Some Hello Kitty fans said that they started lining up outside Taiwan’s oldest post office before 6am to buy the entire set.
The company has only 888 sets available for sale, Wu said, adding that it hopes that the products would generate NT$35 million (US$1.23 million) in revenue.
More Hello Kitty merchandise would be introduced in the next few years, he said.
People can place orders for the Hello Kitty products at post offices, the Postal Museum in Taipei and on the company’s online stamp shop at stamp.post.gov.tw.
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