Hello Kitty, Take Me Away!

And she's off....Reuters photo

Oh yes, it is true. The king of cute has invaded the friendly skies. Taiwanese airline Eva Air has branded a few jets with Hello Kitty and her posse. But they didn't stop at the paint. 

Behold, the Hello Kitty travel experience, from check-in,

Kiosks! Reuters photo

to dining.

Kitty dessert - Reuters photo

This is how you do it, people! Marketers take note. Sanrio company knows how to do it, and there are millions of teenagers and adults in Asia who subscribe to Sanrio's "cute" ways. With a simple company philosophy, "small gift, big smile," they have been wowing the world for over 40 years with Hello Kitty and her some of her many pals like badtz maru, cinnamoroll, and hangyodon, who looks like this:

What does this guy do?

What's not to like!? Founded in Japan, the beloved Hello Kitty has been embraced by the Japanese and the rest of Asia, and there are entire subcultures that revolve around this beloved feline. Head on out to Harajuku in Tokyo and observe the Hello Kitty streetwear:

Harajuku girls - hellokittyforever.com

Do we have the equivalent of this in the United States? It seems like our teenage girls are more into wearing risque clothing than trying to be cute. Although, who says you can't do both?

Lady Gaga inspired - tokyofashion.com

I had some fun encounters with Hello Kitty's ugly step-brother, a big-eyed, green frog, who went by the name of kero-kero-keroppi back in the day. It appears that his name was too much to pronounce, because on Sanrio's website he is now just a studly frog referred to as keroppi. He was good enough for me, though, and I sported his look for the one and only Halloween that I spent in Japan. How did I do?

I kinda want to go. I mean, come on, salted nuts,

buzzfeed.com

buzzfeed.com

and exclusive accoutrements? Taiwan, here I come!