Piece of the Week | Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty is a defining piece of Japanese pop culture. Originally introduced by Sanrio Co. Ltd. into the Japanese market in 1974, Hello Kitty was brought to the United States in 1976 and grew beyond marketing to adolescent girls to adult women… and through many enterprising knock-offs, adult women weedists.  Today we take a peek at Hello Kitty bongs and pipes.

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Hello Kitty History

According to Wikipedia: “Hello Kitty 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. 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. The character is a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. At age 36 as of 2010, Sanrio has groomed ‘Hello Kitty’ into a global marketing phenomenon worth $5 billion a year.

Originally aimed at pre-adolescent females, Hello Kitty’s market has broadened to include adult consumers. She can be found on a variety of products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories and high-end consumer products. Several Hello Kitty TV series, targeted towards young children, have been produced. Hello Kitty is also the main character at the two Japanese Sanrio theme parks, Harmonyland and the indoor Sanrio Puroland.”

Other Hello Kitty Stuff

As a “$5 billion global phenomenon” based on simple artwork, Hello Kitty knock-offs have been emblazoned on just about anything you can think of. One of my favorite Hello Kitty treatments is the fully functioning AR-15… talk about a contradiction (see gallery above).  That’s one way to win over your gun control-favoring wife, though a real weedist would prefer to have Robert Mickelsen’s AR-15 bong!

Recent Piece of the Week Posts

• Stealth Pipes | November 23
• Thanksgiving Football Paraphernalia | November 16
• Waterfall Bong | November 9
• The Dugout | November 2
• Jack Skellington Pipe | October 26
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Pipes and Slides | October 19

Check out other posts from Weedist’s Piece of the Week series!