Hello Kitty Death Warning Update

It seems that the people at Sanrio actually do read this blog. I found the following email waiting for me this morning:

Hi Hello Kitty Hell,

I handle corporate communications for the Outblaze Group, which includes Sanrio Digital and Sanriotown. We were extremely disturbed to learn about the “when will you die” ad you reported at

//www.kittyhell.com/2008/06/02/hello-kitty-death-warning/

We are grateful that we were able to learn about this problem from your blog, as we have never encountered this ad ourselves. The imagery and message are very disturbing and has absolutely no place on any Sanrio web site. We have attempted to track down the culprit, however our ad serving agency (Activ8) cannot find the appropriate record without some additional information. The matter is complicated by the fact that there is no identifiable brand or URL on the screenshot.

It would be most helpful if we could obtain some information from the person who sent you the ad (Amy). The clickthrough URL would help us a lot. Alternatively, if we can determine the date and time that the ad displayed, we can check our logs and try to find out who the advertiser is. If you could put me in touch with the person who submitted the screenshot to you, or if you could relay some questions to Amy for us, we can try get to the bottom of this.

Thanks very much for reporting this and for your assistance.

Best regards,

Ibrahim

There are many things disturbing about this email, not to mention the immense irony:

First, the people at Sanrio and affiliated companies actually read this blog — a blog called Hello Kitty Hell. It would be funny if it didn’t scare me more than the death warning ad (or some of those Hello Kitty tattoos) have. When I mentioned in the past that the people at Sanrio were probably sitting around reading this blog making Hello Kitty crap for the sole purpose of torturing me more, I was being somewhat facetious. As hard as it is to believe, maybe I should be even more paranoid about Hello Kitty Hell than I already am (which in itself simply creates more Hello Kitty Hell for me which means they have succeeded again…)

Secondly, that the people at Sanrio and affiliated companies think that I find the ad inappropriate when in fact it seems to be to be quite appropriate. I must admit I get a sort of good, tingly feeling at reading their words that they were “extremely disturbed” since that is basically how I feel everyday when one of their new products enters my house — it’s nice to see them get a taste of their own medicine even if it is only a small dose. I wonder if I wrote something like this to Sanrio, how they would respond:

Hi people of Sanrio,

I am a poor man that is living in Hello Kitty Hell due to a wife that is a Hello Kitty fanatic. I am extremely disturbed to learn that you have made yet another Hello Kitty item that my wife has fallen in love with and decided to add to her collection which I must also live with (attach list of far too many photos of all the Hello Kitty stuff that arrived that day).

I was not at all grateful to learn about this problem by having all these items arrive at my doorstep as I had no desire to ever encounter any of these in the first place. The imagery and message of all of them are very disturbing and have absolutely no place in a house where a man is living. I have attempted to track down the culprit, however, nobody at Sanrio is willing to admit they were behind the creation of any of this stuff. The matter is complicated by the fact that there is so much Hello Kitty stuff that unless you are a Hello Kitty fanatic, its is nauseating to look at for even a few seconds making it difficult to focus on a single item.

It would be most helpful if I could obtain some information from the person who actually came up these concepts. The specific group where he/she works would help me a lot. Alternatively, if I can get the entire design team’s names and addresses, that would be even better. If you could put me in touch with the person who created this stuff for you, or if you could relay some questions to them for me, I can try to escape from this Hello Kitty Hell.

Thanks very much for your assistance.

Best regards,

Hello Kitty Hell

hmmm, might have to try that sometime…

Thirdly, the irony that the people at Sanrio and affiliated companies are asking for my help after creating the Hello Kitty Hell I live in. The scary part is, that if I help them, they will probably also think it’s appropriate to send me some Hello Kitty merchandise as a “thank you” for helping them out.

Of course, it doesn’t stop there. My wife, seeing that I have an email from someone affiliated with Sanrio, now thinks I have an inside track to people at Sanrio so she can get even more of the latest Hello Kitty stuff. Hello Kitty Hell just got a whole lot worse…

So I will leave it up the the readers of the blog. Leave a comment whether after all that Sanrio and Hello Kitty has put me through, should I be nice and tell them the information they want to know or not? How would you reply?

73 thoughts on “Hello Kitty Death Warning Update”

  1. I’d be nice. Whomever is writing you is just doing their job and probably has no say in what hello kitty products are created and distributed. They may not like Hello Kitty either, after all, a job is just a job and it may be the only job they could get. Can you imagine? Besides, if they offer to send you stuff just tell them no, you don’t like Hello Kitty.

    Reply
  2. I guess tell them the truth. Just have Amy contact them if she has the access to the URL. Or if you do have the screenshot that has it just send it to them. I don’t think you need to do anything more.

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  3. I don’t know. I vote for you not to tell. Think about it. If you help them this time, they are going to ask you to help them in other ways too. Rememer how the whole hello kitty thing works. At first it’s just a “just this once” until you find yourself under an avalanche of hello kitty.

    I would only do it if they agree to send someone to your house to apologize for the hell they have put your through. lol.

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  4. I would say to keep your mouth shut about it. No reason to help the evil empire.

    Though I do agree with Derrick an office apology to you might be worth giving up the info.

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  5. Helping them would violate Amy’s privacy and would only help them target their advertising better. (If she wanted, she could help them on her own…) They should fire their ad agency/service if they’re upset. What’s sad is that even huge outfits like Sanrio have no control over the ads on their site, are obviously incompetent, and lack the ability to track what’s on their own server. If you help them track this problem, it’s likely that more “targeted” cute ads will appear, making Hello Kitty Hell that much more hellish. Why not have the death ad there as a suitable reminder to our own mortality, and the fiendish malevolence that Hello Kitty hides beneath her feline exterior?

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  6. rofl. Now, why exactly is this wrong and the Hello Kitty vibrator…uh, I mean…shoulder massager is OK? I know you will probably tell them because you are nice as can be seen by how well you survive with your wife, but I vote no. Maybe if they have to spend more time finding the ad, they will be able to produce less Hello Kitty.

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  7. I would say help them only because little kids play on that site. I would be kind of pissed if i was letting my kid play online and something like that popped up. My kid is five and plays onvarious kid oriented sites(under her mother’s or my supervision) and would freak out at such an image.

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  8. You should *not* disclose any info you have obtained from the blog readers. You can provide any info that you came to know by yourself. It is up to you.
    I would like you to disclose darlene’s identity as you can have her contact but that is also something you should not do.

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  9. I’m totally with Michelle on this.

    Sanrio do actually have a legitimate concern if this “HK Death Warning” site is nasty, but you have a responsibility to protect Amy’s privacy too, so forward their e-mail to Amy, and reply to them saying that you feel you have a responsibility to protect the privacy of your source, but have forwarded their message to your informant, who you hope will be in touch with them shortly.

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  10. I think your question should not be what to do, but rather what we think your punishment should be for having created a blog that has helped Sanrio in any way shape or form. (-:

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  11. Presumably, Amy is a regular reader of your blog. Therefore, I’d say that if you posted the message from Sanrio in its entirety, your job is done — Amy will see it, and she can email you again if she is interested in obtaining contact information to follow up with Sanrio.

    Meanwhile, your blog and mine could create a joint spinoff, and we could call it “Hello Kitty — Hell, No!”

    Reply
  12. Another vote for ‘nice’. They could have been a-holes and slapped a cease and desist for you using their name and imagery (baseless as such a claim would be) but instead they were quite polite. In return, I think a little help is warranted…just insist that they never, ever send you or your family free HK goodies or discount coupons or even send any snail mail packages or letters with official frickin’ letterhead.

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  13. Sooner or later an inappropriate ad will find its way on to any network: we just want to make sure that our younger viewers are protected from the ad’s disturbing message, so we would appreciate any information about it. If you prefer to email me directly, write to ibrahim at outblaze dotcom. Carry on the good work!

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  14. Screw being nice… don’t tell them. it’s a hell you live in that they created. If they can’t seem to keep their crap in order for their website it’s not your responsibility to help them out.

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  15. Are you POSITIVE this is really from HK corporate and not someone just having you on?

    If you are, I’d leave it to Amy to make the call and do nothing yourself. After all, Amy reads the site, and there’s the email right there…she can figure out what to do.

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  16. I find it hilarious that Sanrio read Hello Kitty Hell! I recently stumbled across you and love you blog – especially the Hello Kitty tattoos…Hello Kitty sporting weaponry? Scary awesome.

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  17. i think you should ignore that email. he made a comment on the first posting and on this one and amy can contact him if she wants to.
    HELPING sanrio is COMPLETELY against everything you stand for, man!
    additionally, if their ad serving agency can’t screen things for “appropriateness” better than that, they shouldn’t have a contract with a company as big as sanrio. it’s unprofessional and really embarassing for Activ8 that they let something like this happen on a children’s website… but then again, maybe they’re on your side…

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  18. Yeah, I’d let Amy handle it.

    And if they send you crap anyway, you can always sell it. (HK is your wife’s BUSINESS, after all. Free inventory!) Or you could have another keep-it-or-smash-it poll.

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  19. I say leave it in Amy’s hands. You can tell HK that you have forwarded the letter to her, but that you don’t wish to do anything further.

    They should sen dyou more HK stuff as a thank you anyways – just so we can read about it πŸ˜›

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  20. Aw, no fair.
    When I emailed Sanrio asking when a product would come out over here and they have’t replied yet.
    Now I find that it’s because they spend there time looking at your blog.

    Okay, slight craziness here.

    Forward the mail to Amy and leave it at that like a lot of people have said is my advice.

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  21. It’s a matter of Privacy really, unless Amy wants the information given to Sanrio, don’t give it to them.

    Mind you, I’m of the opinion that you shouldn’t give teh information out at all. Because Sanrio is an evil corporation bent on world domination and it would be like Collaborating with teh enemy, but still. If you do give out teh information they want, contact Amy before you do so.

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  22. I wouldn’t give them any info. They’re a big corporation and they don’t need to make a big deal out of something that was funny. Amy doesn’t need to give them any info or answer any questions- freedom of press, man. be mean!! mean!!! lol

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  23. *insert maniacal laughter*

    Eh, help em out. Forward it.

    HK sincerely tries to be honest when screwing you over (what people customize themselves, I think is a different category). And you generally shoot them honest attacks. This case is a fluke. Please think higher of your adversary.

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  24. Totally bizarre, and it could only happen to you…

    Man alive.

    Personally, I’d forward the mail to Amy to let her give Sanrio that information. Or just let the matters lie since you did post it here and if Amy’s a regular, she’d get the head’s up.

    Doing either or, you’ve done your job IMO…for Amy’s info shouldn’t be given to them without her expressed permission I think.

    Wow….very unreal….

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  25. I say don’t tell, because they just made your life worse and it’s fun to tease people like that. If they can’t find it through their own hard work, tough.

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  26. @DJ Blakkat:
    actually its not only little kids on the hello kitty webmail site.
    My aunt has her email with hellokitty too.

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  27. forward the email to Amy if you HAVE to be nice otherwise don’t. They have gone out of their way to make your life hell and frankly, don’t deserve your help.

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  28. i’m sorta surprised you DON’T already have the inside track since (whether you like it or not) hello kitty is getting noticed more because of your blog. i know you go out of your way to avoid saying “hello kitty” but it’s mentioned more times than any of us care to count on here.

    plus there’s that awesome j-list.com ad at the side of your site where everyone who clicks on this blog can buy more sanrio merchandise. by being anti-sanrio, you’re kinda like a huge sanrio billboard in a sense. i know you will hate me for life for saying that, but i calls ’em like i sees ’em.

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  29. hmm leave it up to Amy since she was the one that sent it to you I guess….well thats what I would do. I still cannot believe they contacted you thats like a pure sign the apocalypse it coming lol

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  30. Hell to the no!!! Let those Sanrio bitches suffer! And if you should suddenly go insane and decide you do want to help them, it should be on the sole condition that they come and rid your house of every piece of HK crap in it!

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  31. I say help them. I think it says something about a company that is willing to come out and discuss it with you, even those who have trouble with kitty πŸ˜‰

    Make peace not war!

    But yes, it’s not kids, my Mom has a hellokitty account too.

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  32. Ready for another rant from not so Silent Bob?

    Here are the facts, This guy is from the PR or Marketing division and is doing anything to avoid any negative or nasty views of the poor little kitty **gags**. In reality the only thing he is worried about is the bad image that the Evil K will get and thus reflect in sales. Sure we get the concerned citizen email and please help us crap but he just wants to save his job.
    I say Don’t tell him because we are all entitled to our views and if you cant laugh at yourself then who can you laugh at? HK leads children to the dark side daily with their unrelenting advertising of that sickeningly cute little bag of vomit so let someone else lead them in a different direction. So what if it is scary, Sanrio has made enough cash out of it and it is about time that they start facing a little negative advertising.

    ** Phew** it is finally out of my system.

    On another note, Where is Darlene in all of this. I am sure she has something stupid to say that will just make the rest of us wonder about the future of humanity.
    For all of those wondering, Darlene has the potential to breed so we need to take action to prevent this from happening

    End of rant.

    Reply
  33. You should definitely help them out by forwarding the e-mail to Amy. Granted Sanrio/ Hello Kitty has done nothing (good) for you; but you have an opportunity to be the better man and do something good for them. Then you will totally have the upper hand in Hello Kitty Hell.

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  34. Amen to that SBob.

    DO NOT HELP THEM.

    Just think little kids all over the world will be running, screaming from their Hello Kitty laptops and for their HK-hating parents the work has already been done.
    No more HK for little Jonny now, he’s too afraid of…..the ‘Death Stare’.

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  35. Michelle has the best idea: forward this to Amy or wait for Amy to see this post and let her decide.

    Silent Bob: I believe the reason the people of Sanrio have been reading this blog is because darlene has been tattling to them every time Mr. HKH puts up a post. πŸ˜‰

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  36. see the thing is that it’s just an email some one sent someone else on the Sanrio/HK mail server. it’s not an ad or any kind of virus in their server. some one with an HK email sent a scary email to some one else with an HK email addy and took a screen shot. *sigh*

    ~K

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  37. I would also be polite and just help them out. If nothing else, they’re trying to get rid of one Hello Kitty face out there, right?

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  38. HAHA. you should totally tell them to go eff themselves. they’re the ones who got you in this mess! but then again, if you avoid it you may end up in the hk sleeping bag for QUITE awhile. i’m not sure how you don’t just drink yourself to death seeing that pink face all over everything. oh god…they don’t make hello kitty booze too, do they? that would just be the end all be all.

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  39. let Amy decide – forward it to her, and let tell Sanrio you did.

    Not in the interests of nice-ness or any of that crap, but if the Evil Empire decides to be nasty or something, then both your butts are covered legally. And you didn’t disclose someone’s email, which would be way oogy. Especially disclosing someone’s email TO SANRIO!

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  40. if you look at the screenshot, notice how it is right under the heading of a post (“original message”) whereas ads are normally found along the sides of pages or at the very end… i really dont think its authentic. its way too easy to make that thing in MS Paint.

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  41. Sanrio reads this blog!

    SANRIO! I can see them at this table shaped like Hello Kitty, looking at each of their Hello Kitty laptops. Holding their Hello Kitty pens, pad and staple remover. There’s a fridge with Hello Kitty ice cream, soda and frozen food.

    They are all wearing Hello Kitty clothes.

    And the mailroom guy runs in, “Hey guys, or the Japanese equivelent of that phrase, take a look at today’s HELLO KITTY HELL post!”.

    They all click in synchronized fashion (because that’s how the Japanese do it) the site. They laugh and say, “Ain’t it the truth”, and “this guy cracks me up”.

    The boss of all bosses comes in.

    They in synchronized fashion click the laptop, and Hello Kitty’s face appears.

    We have infiltrated the beast. I bet the salarymen send the links around!

    I nominate this blog for the Nobel Prize!

    Reply
  42. Why, I bet this guy who contacted you is stuck with his job, maybe because he has a wife who’s a HK fanatic like yours and threatens him daily with the couch and HK sleeping bag if he even thinks of quitting. So in silent rebellion, he reads your blog and cries himself to sleep at nights. And then one day, his boss sees him reading your blog but luckily, it’s *that* post and the issue passes by because of something much more important, THE IMAGE OF HK! Named “Ibrahim” and being the person who handles communications, I bet he is in an eternal hell on earth even without the connection to HK.

    On the helping bit tho, I’d agree with previous posters: it is up to Amy.

    Reply
  43. The fact that you are “thinking of” writing a letter to Sanrio and let us know what you “think” you are going to write and posted it up here is, in fact, already have the letter written especially when you know that those people actually read your blog… they just wouldn’t respond to such letter and it’s not official anyways… but good job for THINKING OUT LOUD~

    And since Amy was the one who sent it to you, I think you should get Amy involved as she is your source. But you should help Sanrio as much as you can… to show people what a great person you are!!

    Reply
  44. Personally I think you got what you deserve for bad mouthing HK!! LOL!! Yeah…that’s it!! You deserve it!!

    Oh and since obviously Sanrio reads your site…they’re going to read you response above too!

    Reply
  45. Man, I am torn by this one. On the one hand, I believe that any anguish and pain that they suffer is justifiable and there’s that “schadenfroh is a tasty pie” moment going on in my head. On the other hand, the thought of some kid running into that is…simply not enough to overcome my glee. I say you should laugh maniacally and continue on with your life.

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  46. @ Rachel
    the placement of the ad after an email is sent is correct (don’t ask how I know ^_^;;) however the ad itself looks suspect.

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  47. > On another note, Where is Darlene in all of this.

    Where is our beloved darlene? And why she is silient on this?
    I thought she would pound on HKH right away.

    Reply
  48. Let kitty burn at the stake!!!!
    If this site can live up to it’s name of kitty hell and the motivation behind this site, why are we considering emailing the info to sanrio. this site is against the Evil K not with it .
    Just let kitty burn
    burn
    burn
    burn
    If this site helps HK then that is the last ounce of credibility gone for kitty hell

    Reply
  49. at silent bob
    ~For all of those wondering, Darlene has the potential to breed so we need to take action to prevent this from happening~
    actually i’m kinda skeptical about that, i’m pretty sure that whether darlene is female or a male in denial, inserting or having inserted any part of her would end in the same painful dissolvtion as would too much candy to cavaties, whatever body part would come in contact would melt off into a sticky lump of melted gummy bears (or cats in this case)

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  50. to Mr. HKH,

    i pity you because you’re blaming the poor feline cat about your so called “hello kitty hell”.. first of all, you’re so dumb stupid not to accept that your wife loves hello kitty. second, blame your wife not hello kitty. hello kitty didn’t tell your wife to collect all the items made of hello kitty. your wife’s the only one who loved kitty, as the people who comment here said, hello kitty has no feelings, no mouth, etc.. so kitty can’t speak to your wife and tell her to collect all the hello kitty stuffs, so hello kitty has nothing to do about your wife collecting hello kitty items and making your life like a hell. its your wife’s fault because she loves hello kitty and she makes your life like a “hell” and it’s not hello kitty’s fault.. you have 2 choices, either accept the fact that your wife loves hello kitty or divorce your wife so your “HELLO KITTY HELL” life will be put to an END.. you don’t need to blame hello kitty..

    Reply
  51. I say send the letter to Amy, and let her handle it. I hope it is resolved, though — my 4 year old and I sometimes hit the Sanrio website to play their games online, and I’d hate for her (or anyone’s kid) to see something like that.
    Ultimately, however, with all the millions in merchandising Sanrio makes per year (heck, per day, probably), they should have the means to fix this themselves.

    Reply
  52. My daughter is becoming a Hello Kitty fanatic and it is all I can do to stop buying her some of the many useless items. (Clothes are ok in my book because she will out grow them!) So, I say this from the bottom of my heart; “Screw em!” They haven’t asked for you help in anyother way, so why should now be different?

    Reply
  53. am I the only one here who thinks it is a little rude to be posting someone’s e-mail up there without perhaps seeking permission?

    What if someone asked you something in private, and then you go post it for the world to see? The circumstance may vary but isn’t that against netiquette?

    Reply
  54. Wow… after seeing all the posts I have to say, dude your job is done…
    And does anyone else seem to notice that the email address for the ‘Sanrio’ guy isn’t even a ‘Sanrio’ email address? One would think that with the all the money they are siphonning off young children and their parents they’d have their own email server πŸ˜‰

    Anyway, the way I see it is you either love HK or hate HK… or maybe something in between, but we all have our feelings about it and this site.
    There’s a saying that comes to mind here: ‘Opinoins are like A$$holes… everyone’s got one!’

    Annndddd, I’ll leave you witth that little jewel πŸ™‚

    Reply
  55. i think you should give the info to them. i know they make your life hell but that ad is creepy. maybe they’ll do something nice for you? maybe they’ll give your wife lots of hk toilet paper so then it wouldn’t matter if you needed to use it.

    Reply
  56. mmm hard, i agree with the comment about kids using the website and that isnot good, but it is amy who sent you the info so would forward her the email and then let her decide and send a return email to sanrio to that effect.

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  57. To Barrie: It’s “Schadenfreude”

    To Mr. HKH: I wouldn’t tell them, it’s their job to keep track of the services they purchase/use. Basically, helping this “Sanrio” employee would be tantamount to helping the dreaded feline. I cannot believe you’re even putting it to question; have you ever considered you might be coming down with Stockholm Syndrome?

    Reply
  58. at Ghost

    You are a wise little pad wan!

    I am sure that Darlene’s gene pool is akin to the volume of a coke bottle cap so the chances of her breeding is very low unless her brother is feeling particularly stoned.

    Reply
  59. Sounds like ‘terumi’ tried to cover the darlene rant for this one… didn’t quite have the same impotent bleating ring to it, but I guess it’ll do.

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  60. i wouldn’t help them πŸ™‚ i enjoy the idea of such whacked adds turning up on their site, even though i won’t visit their site.

    but i do think that you should inform Amy, so that she can make a decision to help or not for herself.

    Reply
  61. Hnn Mr HKH, I would not since it could be a prank, it’s better to call Sanrio corprate in this case just to see if it’s legit. Given Sanrio had bad press over 99 murder, they are prolly safeguarding her image. Hope her status as a maneki neko will bring her fortune.

    Reply
  62. I would NOT tell them that information. They could be anyone! and on top of that it’s NONE of Sanrio’s business who Amy really is! If they want the problem fixed then they just need someone to get on their site and find it just like she did.

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  63. ah, don’t tell them.. but send them the email you wrote up on here. πŸ˜€ i would really like to know their response!

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  64. tell them, you want that ad culprit out of the way, so you dont get stuf flike that on YOUR website, Not for sanrio, but for the internet.
    But ALSO tell sanrio how they can, as a “thank you” NOT make ANYTHING hello kitty for one year.

    Reply

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