VP candidate for Friendship Party (2012)
Running mate with nominee: Kitty White (b. 1974)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
On Oct. 8, 2012 the Catsparella website reported--
Hello Kitty (given name: Kitty White), who hails from London, England by way of Tokyo, Japan, announced her candidacy today to become President of the United States of America. The 38-year-old third grader, who weight is equal to that of three apples, is running as a member of the newly formed Friendship Party because, "you can never have too many friends!"
Sanrio is kicking off HK's 2012 campaign with a slew of super cute merch, online activities, and live events that are sure to give her a competitive edge in the upcoming race. In addition to slinging patriotic t-shirts, headbands and keychains for the cause, any purchase currently made at Sanrio.com comes with a free campaign button or bumper sticker, to boot.
Of course, any presidential hopeful needs a qualified vice president to back them up, which is why Hello Kitty has launched a Facebook poll to help select the running mate who best supports her mission of friendship, fun and happiness. Old favorites like Tuxedosam, Badtz-Maru, My Melody, and Keroppi are all among the contenders, but in the end I cast my vote for Chococat, because two felines are always better than one.
The Hello Kitty mega-franchise had a one month marketing blitz using the US Presidential election as a commercial springboard. The Sanrio Co., Ltd. created a sense of consumer participation by having the fans select the running-mate by the end of October. A cartoon penguin named Tuxedo Sam (or TuxedoSam) won the day. Sam is actually the second cartoon penguin to run for VP, the first being Opus the Penguin starting in 1984 with the National Radical Meadow Party.
So, some problems for the Friendship Party ticket-- They were created/born in Japan. Apparently Hello Kitty is a citizen of the UK. And they are animals, and fictitious ones at that. Plus they were never on any ballots or registered write-ins.
Election history: none
Other occupations: animated cartoon penguin
Notes:
Even though my daughter would have been in the prime era for Hello Kitty products we somehow didn't get caught up in that universe. I knew more adults who were into it than children which I suppose tells you something about the sort of people I hang out with.
