Early next year I have a book coming out, written with Agnes Nairn, on children as consumers and some of the marketing that is targeted to them. Hello Kitty is a sales phenomenon for girls and one of the examples that Agnes, who is a Professor of Marketing, and I have been exploring in relation to how fashion is getting ever younger. Even so, I was surprised to see this notice in a Hello Kitty (Sanrio Corporation) shop which declares “we are not responsible for your child’s purchase.
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I wonder what other notices companies could use – “we are not responsible for the chemicals that poison the people that make the shirt you buy” or “we are not responsible for you if things go wrong”. Perhaps it is simply an outbreak of honesty…
