Elementary school.  I glance around the classroom and notice a cartoon cat’s face on many of my classmate’s stationary, lunchboxes, backpacks etc. I do not pay much attention to it, I think to myself that it is some sort of Japanese cartoon fawned over by young girls and that’s that. Years later, I am in a small town in Croatia and see grown men walking around in shirts with this same cat’s face. There are umbrellas, beach towels, sunscreen, sandals, you name it, all marked with the cat. How can it be that years later and far from home, I am still surrounded by this expressionless cat’s face? Now however, it is not only young girls who tote the cat around on their school supplies, but teenagers, adults, seniors, females, males- everyone everywhere- who seems to be using products that could otherwise stand by themselves, but which appear more valuable because they display this cat’s face. Yes, I am talking about Hello Kitty. I am baffled and confused by Hello Kitty’s takeover of the world. The picture of the cat itself offers no real perk to the consumer, yet any random (yes, I mean very random) product that manages to incorporate Hello Kitty in some way, is suddenly a more sought after item. Perhaps, as one blog comments (warning: foul language), this is partly because Hello Kitty DOES NOT HAVE A MOUTH and therefore is expressionless. In this way, Hello Kitty is a versatile symbol that can be applicable to any product, as instead of offering an emotion, Hello Kitty serves as a blank canvas for the consumer, resonating with whatever emotion  the consumer is feeling at the time, or associates with the product. Indeed, by being a mouth-less character, Hello Kitty relates to the consumer, allowing them to project whatever emotion they wish upon the product they will be purchasing.