# Hello Kitty CONDOMS???

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 31, 2000, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580 "2000-07-31T18:53:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Baglady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Baglady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baglady)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/1 "2000-07-31T18:53:38Z")

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I don’t know what’s more disturbing; the thought of: prepubescent girls giggling over these; teen-agers giggling over these while they use them, or; the fact that the manufacturer obtained legal license from Sanrio to make these.

… if THAT weren’t bad enough, they also sell Hello Kitty VIBRATORS.

See 'em here: [http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/9938/object.html](http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/9938/object.html)

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**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/2 "2000-07-31T19:05:53Z")

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Lol, “Kitty condoms” At first I thought they were  
for the cat. :eek: I can just see someone saying “look at my kitty condoms they are soooo cool man.” Maybe they’ll be the next rave.

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**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/3 "2000-07-31T19:06:34Z")

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Hey, that’s pretty cool. They’ll go great with my Teletubbies French Ticklers.

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**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/4 "2000-07-31T19:10:01Z")

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On Yahoo, there is a ebay wierdness message board, where strange ebay items are posted. There was a Hello Kitty vibrator at one point. It was called a Hello Kitty Happy Maker or something equally disgusting.

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**Author:** ![Valerieblaise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@Valerieblaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valerieblaise)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/5 "2000-07-31T19:51:23Z")

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A friend of mine is obsessed with the Hello Kitty vibrator. He keeps telling me I _need_ one (and no, I don’t know why). So disturbing.

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**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/6 "2000-07-31T21:10:29Z")

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Usually I am all for gross humor and off the wall stuff in general. However I don’t get these. They are not funny, and there is no way I could put one of these on, especially in the heat of the moment.

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**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/7 "2000-07-31T21:16:48Z")

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The BF and I one fine summer day ran across the Hello Kitty section in FAO Schwartz.

They were selling these little empty glass tubes,  
about 2 inches long and a centimeter or so in diameter,  
with a plastic cap, with Hello Kitty on them.

We could not for the life of us figure out  
what they were for, but they sure as hell looked like  
crack vials to us.

Can anyone allay my fears?

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**Author:** ![Lazarus7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/67e7ee/32.png) [@Lazarus7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazarus7)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/8 "2000-07-31T22:42:24Z")

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A friend of mine just got back from a year in Japan and she brought me the nicest pair of Hello Kitty beer mugs! I just love them! … mmmm … tasty beer and Hello Kitty! What could be better??

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**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/9 "2000-07-31T23:18:22Z")

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On a related note, Virgin–Airline, CD store, maker of cola–also makes condoms. Damn that made me laugh the fisr time I walked up to a counter and saw a big pack of “Virgin condoms”… 😃

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**Author:** ![astrangefish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bbce88/32.png) [@astrangefish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astrangefish)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/10 "2000-07-31T23:21:16Z")

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Well, I’m sure that you wouldn’t want condoms that have had sex before. Thats just gross.

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**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/11 "2000-07-31T23:48:46Z")

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And I thought the Hello Kitty toaster and waffle iron were strange. I’m _so_ naive.

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**Author:** ![LocalLoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@LocalLoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LocalLoop)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/12 "2000-08-01T02:13:58Z")

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Not to be the downer , but…  
In my opinion, the condoms look fake. The graphics superimposed over them do not conform to the shape of wrappers - the upper left corner one looks very fake, while the lower left corner one looks passably real. Dunno…

As for the “vibrator”, looks more like some fancy pen to me. Suspicious that the bottom portion is clipped from the picture (the portion that would contain the tip of the pen). These are my opinions, I could be wrong…someone that can read Japanese could straighten this out.

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**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/13 "2000-08-01T02:37:32Z")

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The “vibrator” looks like a microphone. The name is something like “My Melody” and there are musical notes all over the package. Unless it is a musical vibrator… (Beach Boys _Good Vibrations_)

It also looks damn uncomfortable, but people have been known to put all sorts of things in all sorts of places.

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**Author:** ![Baglady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Baglady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baglady)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/14 "2000-08-01T06:05:46Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Motorgirl \*  
> \*\*The BF and I one fine summer day ran across the Hello Kitty section in FAO Schwartz.
> 
> They were selling these little empty glass tubes,  
> about 2 inches long and a centimeter or so in diameter,  
> with a plastic cap, with Hello Kitty on them.
> 
> We could not for the life of us figure out  
> what they were for, but they sure as hell looked like  
> crack vials to us.
> 
> Can anyone allay my fears? \*\*

Oooo, Hello Kitty crack vials!! Sign me up, babeee!!!

– Baglady, walking off muttering about Sanrio’s licensing division

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**Author:** ![thoughtviper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@thoughtviper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thoughtviper)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/15 "2000-08-02T02:51:48Z")

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Howdy doody. I’m the guy that does the Inexplicable Object page that started this thread.

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by LocalLoop \*  
> \*\*Not to be the downer , but…  
> In my opinion, the condoms look fake.
> 
> As for the “vibrator”, looks more like some fancy pen to me. \*\*

If I’d known that there would’ve controversy over the Hello Kitty marital aids, I would’ve kept my source urls. I didn’t. But rest assured as you dream your lil Sanrio-y dreams that both items had 2 confirming sources.

Both were recent eBay items. The condoms were also listed on a hardcore Sanrio collectors page. How hardcore? 20-25 bucks a rubber each. They also drooled over a guy’s purchase of a Hello Kitty B&W 9" portable TV for only $5,000. I would’ve spent the 5K on Hello Kitty brand crack first.  
The vibrator translates as “Happy Massager” or something, wink wink. It was also glimpsed on another “WTF” page, & I already said I don’t have the url so stop looking at me like that.  
“My Melody” was an early Sanrio character–if my shoddy personal memory serves, she predated Hello herself in US merchandising.

Important Note: Yes, these items seem as odd to us as Little Mermaid “Water Sports” rubber bondage gear would seem. But Japanese people are crazy. At least to us. Why, I’d wager that they think it’s funny that we require weeks of lessons & several tests to get a car license, but to get a gun license, we only have to wait 3 days & prove that we haven’t been caught shooting anybody to death yet!  
Now THAT’S inexplicable!

–Bill the Splut

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**Author:** ![Quadzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/a4c791/32.png) [@Quadzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quadzilla)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/16 "2000-08-02T03:24:17Z")

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Maybe it’s just the Japanese thing with cartoons becoming sex symbols in a twisted way (Sailor Moon, for example)…?

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**Author:** ![LocalLoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@LocalLoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LocalLoop)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/17 "2000-08-02T04:19:55Z")

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Thanks for the clarification and further details, thoughtviper. I’ll go with you on the massage device, but I still think the picture of the condoms just doesn’t look “right”. Certainly not calling you to task on your info, just sharing my opinion.

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**Author:** ![thoughtviper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@thoughtviper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thoughtviper)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/18 "2000-08-03T01:09:17Z")

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Me and my big mouth…Yes, there is a Hello Kitty vibrator, but it is NOT “My Melody.”

Details of my dumbness can be found at [http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/9938/object.html](http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/9938/object.html).

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**Author:** ![PrincessofHauto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea666f/32.png) [@PrincessofHauto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrincessofHauto)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/19 "2000-08-11T00:18:46Z")

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In the latest issue of Cosmo, Laetitia Costa says that she just loves all Hello Kitty accessories. I wonder if she also means “romantic accessories.”

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580/20 "2003-08-24T15:28:15Z")

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Well, get them soon. According to Peter Payne of J-list dot com (notable web-marketer of Japanese pop-media merchandise) the Hello Kitty “massager” (that’s how it’s sold in Japan) is going out of production.

As to how “wrong” it may be, those products were created for the Japanese domestic market. Totally different paradigm.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-kitty-condoms/27580.md?page=2)
