Okay folks. Have we gone to far and dropped off the cliff of normalcy or what? The cute cuddly white cat from Japan's Sanrio Co., usually seen on toys and jewelry for girls and young women, will soon don T-shirts, bags, watches and other products targeting young men...that's right, Men! The usual bubble-headed shape of Hello Kitty was slightly changed for a more rugged, cool look to appeal to men in their teens and early 20s.
"We think Hello Kitty is accepted by young men as a design statement in fashion," according to company officials. The mouthless feline for-men products will go on sale in Japan next month, and will be sold soon in the U.S. and other Asian nations. Hello Kitty is one of mascot-obsessed Japan's biggest "character" hits, decorating everything from a humble eraser to a $48,000 diamond necklace.
The planned products mark the first time Sanrio is developing Hello Kitty items especially for males and in a shocking discovery, Sanrio had tried a "limited edition" collaboration in men's clothing and it proved popular. "Young men these days grew up with character goods," said Tohmatsu. "That generation feels no embarrassment about wearing Hello Kitty." Yeah, right! What's next? A Hello Kitty NFL franchise?
Speaking of dropping into the moral ozone, in Garland, Texas, a 6-year-old girl who won four tickets to a Hannah Montana concert with an essay that falsely claimed her father died in Iraq won't be going to the show after all. The contest's sponsor, Club Libby Lu, withdrew the prize on Saturday and awarded it to another unnamed winner. "With this decision, we hope to revive the intended spirit of the contest, which was designed to make a little girl's holidays extra special," Club Libby Lu chief executive Mary Drolet said in a statement Saturday.
The girl won a makeover that included a blonde Hannah Montana wig, as well as the grand prize: airfare for four to Albany, N.Y., and four tickets to the sold-out Hannah Montana concert on Jan. 9. Her essay read like this..."My daddy died this year in Iraq. I am going to give mommy the Angel pendant that daddy put on mommy when she was having me. I had it in my jewelry box since that day. I love my mommy." But the girl's mother admitted later Friday that the essay and the military information she provided about her daughter's father were untrue.
In an attempt to justify the "little white lie", the mother, Priscilla Ceballos, told CBS station KTVT-TV in Dallas's Kimberly Ball "I did an essay and that's what was told, It never said it had to be a true story." Ceballos had told Club Libby Lu officials that the girl's father died April 17 in a roadside bombing in Iraq, but the Department of Defense has no record of anyone with that name dying in Iraq. Good job raising that child, Mom!So what did we discover today? That boys should be girls? That we shouldn't draw gender lines? Lying is OK as long as it's for Hanna Montana tickets? I would never have believed a 6 year old wrote that anyway. She is going to learn two hard and cold lessons: Her mother is a liar. Liars don't get prizes for lying. Of course, that's ust my opinion I could be wrong! I just hope and pray I'm not!
