Hello Kitty isn’t Sanrio’s most popular character anymore.
When I first learned this, it felt wrong. Like finding out Mickey Mouse got dethroned at Disney. Hello Kitty has been everywhere since before I was born. The lunchboxes, the pencil cases, the weird collaboration with luxury brands that made no sense but somehow worked. She built an empire. And now? In the company’s annual character polls over the last decade, she’s won top spot exactly once.
One time in ten years.
What happened to her?
Nothing happened to her. That’s what’s brilliant about this. Sanrio didn’t wait for Hello Kitty to fade. They built an exit strategy while she was still on top. New characters. New series. Anything to keep fans hungry for the next thing. Then they made a bigger move that changed everything. They became an IP licensing company. No more factories. No materials to source. Other companies do the manufacturing while Sanrio just collects checks. Operating profits exploded from ¥2.1 billion to ¥51.8 billion between 2020 and 2021. Stock price jumped thirteen times.
But here’s what that actually means. Diversification splits loyalty. As Sanrio rolled out character after character, fans found new favorites. The pink rabbit Melody. Yellow dog Pudding. Black bat Kuromi, who’s grumpy and mean and somehow that makes people love her more. Hello Kitty became one option in a lineup instead of the only option.
That had to hurt the original fans. The ones who grew up with Hello Kitty as their constant companion. Watching her share the spotlight must feel like watching your childhood get diluted.
But Sanrio couldn’t afford sentiment. You can’t build a business on hoping one character stays relevant forever. Trends die. Attention moves. If they’d stayed loyal to Hello Kitty alone, the whole company could’ve collapsed when people moved on. Instead, they gave fans permission to love something else without leaving the Sanrio universe. Tired of Hello Kitty? Try Kuromi. She gets angry easily. She has bad days. And that’s exactly why she works.
After “Kuromi’s Bad Day” came out, I watched people fall for her imperfections. She’s not perfect or sweet or endlessly patient like Hello Kitty. She’s moody. She snaps at people. She feels real in a way that a character with no mouth never could. When fans buy Kuromi merchandise, they’re not just buying cute. They’re buying a mirror of their own frustrations and bad moods. That’s emotional commerce at its best.
Sanrio took a risk. IP licensing means losing control. Diversification means your flagship character might fade. But they did it anyway because staying safe meant dying slowly.
The queen stepped down from her throne. But the kingdom has never been stronger.
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