Has "cute" gone too far?

[Netzach]

OK, so here's something that would fit into the annoyingly cute category, for me.

These were the mascots of the Vancouver Olympics...
http://media.nowpublic.net/images//34/e/34e044daee74cfc3cfc9c46ab62e6a34.jpg

Ignoring, for a moment, that I was opposed to the games as a whole, these mascots make no sense to me. They look like something I would see in Japan. How do they represent Vancouver? Or Canada? I don't even know what animals the two on the left and right are supposed to represent.

ETA: I think the one on the right is a panda?

To me, they were designed with the sole purpose of being cute. Blech.

Wow those are a heaping helping of huh.

It's not the style that irritates me, it's that there's enough stereotypical Canadian wildlife that you should not need to resort to is that an owlfox wtf?

 

[JMohegan]

As mascots go, you can't get much worse than this:

http://www.imcmascots.com/mascot-pages/olympics-mascots-izzy.htm

 

[Netzach]

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/funny-pictures-duck-has-minions.jpg

For you, JM, a catfree lolcat of fairly decent quality.

 

[Netzach]

As mascots go, you can't get much worse than this:

http://www.imcmascots.com/mascot-pages/olympics-mascots-izzy.htm

Yes. High school student design contest win?

 

[Keroin]

Wow those are a heaping helping of huh.

It's not the style that irritates me, it's that there's enough stereotypical Canadian wildlife that you should not need to resort to is that an owlfox wtf?

Yeah.

And they made such a big deal about including the "first nations" people. How about their artwork? That might have been nice. Much better than a doe-eyed Sasquatch and two unknown animals.

 

[Keroin]

As mascots go, you can't get much worse than this:

http://www.imcmascots.com/mascot-pages/olympics-mascots-izzy.htm

What the hell IS that??

 

[Netzach]

Yeah.

And they made such a big deal about including the "first nations" people. How about their artwork? That might have been nice. Much better than a doe-eyed Sasquatch and two unknown animals.

This is actually a good example of the author's plaint. I guess plush toys are just too good a sell-through.

I like your point until I imagine a Haida-influenced stuffie kiosk. Oy.

 

[JMohegan]

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/funny-pictures-duck-has-minions.jpg

For you, JM, a catfree lolcat of fairly decent quality.

Haha - I like that one, yes!

 

[Keroin]

Sorry, off topic but this talk of mascots reminded me of one of my last days in the Cook Islands. While on Rarotonga, we went with some friends to watch a “murderball” game and Kuki, the Cook Islands mascot, was there.

This is Kuki with the local rugby team…

http://www.cinews.co.ck/2009/September/Wed23/Tue22/09091767.jpg

Now, understand, kids on these islands don’t get a lot of entertainment geared just for them, so they LOVE Kuki. They also don’t have a lot of money. This would prove to be a lethal combination.

At the end of the games, the announcer called all the kids down to the court. Kuki was standing at the far end, holding out his…wings. The deal was, Kuki was holding a ten dollar bill in each hand, the kids (about 50 of them) were lined up ready to go, and on the whistle they had to try to be the first to grab the money from Kuki’s hands. If you got it, it was yours.

Man I wish I’d had a video camera.

Whistle blows. 50 children bear down on this poor guy like they’re storming the beaches of Normandy.

SPLAT.

Nuff said?

 

[Keroin]

This is actually a good example of the author's plaint. I guess plush toys are just too good a sell-through.

I like your point until I imagine a Haida-influenced stuffie kiosk. Oy.

What? You're saying this doesn't translate to "cute & cuddly"?

http://wikistange.wikispaces.com/file/view/Campbell_Lyle_Haida_Wolf_700_txt_550.jpg/33960701/Campbell_Lyle_Haida_Wolf_700_txt_550.jpg

LOL.

*Pictures hoards of crying children*

Point taken.

 

[Netzach]

What? You're saying this doesn't translate to "cute & cuddly"?

http://wikistange.wikispaces.com/file/view/Campbell_Lyle_Haida_Wolf_700_txt_550.jpg/33960701/Campbell_Lyle_Haida_Wolf_700_txt_550.jpg

LOL.

*Pictures hoards of crying children*

Point taken.

LOL, super badass, screams of athletic streamlined beauty. And then I think to myself - who's drawing it, who's making the money (the Olympic committee) and then I think, you know, maybe quietly failing to rape Native art in favor of pokemon fox thing is OK. It was played "safe" but to the point of unintelligible. How about just settling on a fox, a wolf, a caribou, a bear or something and going with it?

 

[JMohegan]

Yeah.

And they made such a big deal about including the "first nations" people. How about their artwork? That might have been nice. Much better than a doe-eyed Sasquatch and two unknown animals.

The point of Olympic mascots is to create something to license to vendors, in order raise money by selling stuff to children. Leaving aside broader Olympics issues, from a strictly fund-raising perspective I don't think it's a bad plan. And in this context, cute is very, very good.

According to Wiki, the Vancouver mascots were based on characters from native mythology.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Mascots_for_Vancouver_2010_Olympics_based_on_native_mythology


As for Izzy the Atlanta embarrassment, no idea what the fuck it was supposed to be. But I do recall it was a disaster because merchandising sales were so low. Precisely because it was NOT cute, it was an abject failure.

 

[JMohegan]

I think, you know, maybe quietly failing to rape Native art in favor of pokemon fox thing is OK.

Exactly.

 

[Netzach]

Exactly.

Well, only they kind of did. It makes my head hurt.

 

[ThorkelGriersen]

Yeah. Read it all. I know better than to touch any of this.

 

[rida]

(more on cute and Japan)

Japanese are goofy and big kids at heart, but I cannot say if the "little brother" complex described in the article is the motivation behind their love for cute or not.

Also, I cannot explain it nor pinpoint it, but I feel there is a different approach to cute between the way it is done here in Japan and there in the USA. And the only thing I can think of is the fact that Japan, as a culture, has a very strong sense of boundaries and appropriateness, and at the same time a very liberal "private life is private".

Public display of over-the-top "Kawaii" is mostly a girl thing up to high-school. After that, nobody cares if your whole home kitchen is outfitted with Hello-Kitty pink kitchen utensils and furniture, or your free-time dressing style is Lolita or Cabbage Patch Doll, or your whole stationary in the office has cute bunnies or logos or other cuteness to it or if a man's boxer briefs are Hello Kitty themed. As far as you dress and behave appropriately for work or public social functions or settings, nobody is going to berate you for being "too cute".

Also cute is still mostly the realm of women, beside the Otaku, but their brand of cute is a whole different story, I believe.

The article rise the concern that "cute is addictive" and is "taking over" and trying to come up with some explanation for it in relation to the world economy blah blah. Sounds like the economy-fashion theory that mini-skirt are popular when the economy is bad.

As for the Conrad Lorenz theory that big eyes= babies=desire to protect and nurture it seems to be indeed the case. Not sure though that all the cute is necessarily related to infantilization, regression or wanting to be protected.

(I'm not a pink girl but I love subtle and fashionable cute. I was more of a Snoopy girl than a Hello Kitty one growing up)

 

[Keroin]

(more on cute and Japan)

Japanese are goofy and big kids at heart, but I cannot say if the "little brother" complex described in the article is the motivation behind their love for cute or not.

Also, I cannot explain it nor pinpoint it, but I feel there is a different approach to cute between the way it is done here in Japan and there in the USA. And the only thing I can think of is the fact that Japan, as a culture, has a very strong sense of boundaries and appropriateness, and at the same time a very liberal "private life is private".

Public display of over-the-top "Kawaii" is mostly a girl thing up to high-school. After that, nobody cares if your whole home kitchen is outfitted with Hello-Kitty pink kitchen utensils and furniture, or your free-time dressing style is Lolita or Cabbage Patch Doll, or your whole stationary in the office has cute bunnies or logos or other cuteness to it or if a man's boxer briefs are Hello Kitty themed. As far as you dress and behave appropriately for work or public social functions or settings, nobody is going to berate you for being "too cute".

Also cute is still mostly the realm of women, beside the Otaku, but their brand of cute is a whole different story, I believe.

The article rise the concern that "cute is addictive" and is "taking over" and trying to come up with some explanation for it in relation to the world economy blah blah. Sounds like the economy-fashion theory that mini-skirt are popular when the economy is bad.

As for the Conrad Lorenz theory that big eyes= babies=desire to protect and nurture it seems to be indeed the case. Not sure though that all the cute is necessarily related to infantilization, regression or wanting to be protected.

(I'm not a pink girl but I love subtle and fashionable cute. I was more of a Snoopy girl than a Hello Kitty one growing up)

Thanks for the input, Rida!

Yes, I always got a different feeling about the level of acceptance of cute in Japan. Frankly, I have to admit I am amazed at the staying power of Hello Kitty. When I was living there, in '92, Disney was HUGE - is that still the case?

Trends are an interesting thing. Why do they start? Why do they end? Why do some last for years and others fizzle in a season?

Is cute related to the bad economy/world news? I'm not sure but it's a interesting theory.

 

[rida]

Thanks for the input, Rida!
Yes, I always got a different feeling about the level of acceptance of cute in Japan. Frankly, I have to admit I am amazed at the staying power of Hello Kitty. When I was living there, in '92, Disney was HUGE - is that still the case?

Hello Kitty is still big, but interestingly more for teens and women than little preschoolers or grade kids. And that is related to the fact that its return to glory happened because they decided to start targeting the demographic that was a kid when Hello Kitty first appeared (and that was, if I don't remember wrong 1974) by producing teens and grown up items with the character on it. From there there is a return to little kids stuff as well, as moms buy products for their girls.

Director competitors are My Melody (a rabbit with red ears), Cinnamoroll (cute puppies with long ears), Sugarbunnies (more cute bunnies).

Disney Princess are still huge, of course. But here they have to compete in the heart of little girls with all the other characters targeting them from the Japanese Anime world where the most recent heroins are Pretty Cure (cannot remember which "generation" they are at now).

Then there are Pokemon, still alive and kicking and covering a wide range of demographic and including both girls and boys.

And I'll stop before going into all the male targeting characters.

As for the level of acceptance of cute, it is just that there is no stigma related to liking it. If you are a boy it might be complicated to admit you like Hello Kitty but there are plenty of characters for you to like.

And once you grow up? As far as whatever you do does not create "disharmony" in society, nobody cares.

Trends are an interesting thing. Why do they start? Why do they end? Why do some last for years and others fizzle in a season?

Is cute related to the bad economy/world news? I'm not sure but it's a interesting theory.

re: trends
Luck, marketing and hitting the right mental/emotional connection with your target audience and be able to keep grab on it while at the same time recruiting new followers.
That is: have an easily recognizable identity, evolve and change with the times while staying true to the original.

re: cute & bad economy
that seemed to be the theory in the Vanity Fair article.

 

[YourCaptor]

Japanese chicks are pretty cute

 

[CuteBrat]

*DISCLAIMER* No offense is intended to the various members of this board (Etoile), who provide us with moments of feline hilarity (Etoile), and general cuteness (Etoile).


I’ve read a few articles lately discussing the increasing fascination with “cute” in our culture - “Addicted to Cute”, in Vanity Fair, is long but worth the read – and it got me to wondering about this trend.

From emoticons, to “kittehs”, to funny baby videos, our culture is being swamped with cute. Why?

I have to admit that I am guilty of succumbing to the culture of cute, at times. I like cupcakes, as many here are aware. I have even started using emoticons in my posts, which I swore I would never do . And, yes, funny cat photos/videos sometimes make me laugh.

But I am not a complete convert. The words “kitteh”, “puppeh” or “bunneh” still make me want to “barfeh”. Babies do nothing for me, nothing. I have no “aawww” response when looking at a baby dressed as a “bunneh”. Those big-eyed anime characters annoy me. I don’t…cuddle. I will never wear a "snuggie", thankyouverymuch.

Bah humbug.

So, how do you feel about all this cuteness? Is it too much? Or is it just what our culture needs after suffering through a decade of bad news?

Is Etoile secretly taking over our brains through the clever use of cat imagery?

i think the word is "kittaeh"...