HELLO KITTY

Hello Kitty is another good example of how adults are still emotionally attached to certain things they cherished as children.

""Hello Kitty stands for the innocence and sincerity of childhood and the simplicity of the world," says Helen McCarthy, an author and expert on Japanese animation and comics. "Women and girls all over the world are happy to buy in to the image of the trusting, loving childhood in a safe neighbourhood that Hello Kitty represents. They don't want to let go of that image, so as they grow up, they hang onto Hello Kitty out of nostalgic longing – as if by keeping a symbolic object, they can somehow keep hold of a fragment of their childhood self."

And so now, although originally conceived as a character that would appeal to pre-teen girls, Hello Kitty is no longer regarded as being for children only. Along with the likes of Coca-Cola and Nike, she has become a brand phenomenon.

Her wide, white, slightly questioning face first adorned a clear plastic coin purse, which retailed for 240 yen (£1.17). Now you can buy almost anything stamped with the Hello Kitty brand, including towels, pencils, clothing, stationery and mobile phone covers, selling in more than 60 countries. Hello Kitty's popularity with adults is reflected in the changing products available: you can buy Hello Kitty-branded laptops and adult-sized underwear – you can buy more merchandise and charge it to your Hello Kitty credit card, cannily supplied by the Bank of America; really dedicated fans can register for their own @hellokitty.com email address at the website, Sanriotown.com." (click HERE to read the full article by The Independent)

YES, Hello Kitty bank card. Pretty awesome.