Kiss Join With Hello Kitty for Upcoming Animated Series
Lock up your daughter's TiVo! The hottest band in the world -- Kiss -- are teaming up with Hello Kitty for a new animated series on the Hub Network titled (what else?) 'Kiss Hello Kitty' -- and no, we did not just make that up.
The iconic rock group have never exactly been reticent about, shall we say, "expanding their markets" through licensing deals, and they first entered into the seemingly unlikely partnership with Hello Kitty in 2010. According to a press release, "This global collection of hugely desirable co-branded products connects Kiss and Hello Kitty followers all over the world with hundreds of licensed items across all categories, including apparel, toys, electronics, stationery, and back to school merchandise, among others."
With the success of that venture, the band have extended the relationship with the announcement of the upcoming show, which will be produced in a joint venture between Kiss Catalogue Ltd. and Sanrio, the makers of Hello Kitty. The show will air on the Hub Network, the fastest-growing children's cable network. Gene Simmons will serve as one of the show's producers.
"The Hub Network is the perfect home for the TV show, ‘Kiss Hello Kitty,’” Simmons says. “We are incredibly excited about this opportunity and want to make all our millions of fans worldwide proud of a show they can watch with the whole family."
Paul Stanley adds, "Knowing and viewing the Hub as I do daily with my three children, it is the perfect home for us to bring the ‘Kiss Hello Kitty’ juggernaut to yet another generation."
Sanrio's operating officer, Roberto Lanzi, acknowledges the show seems unlikely on the surface, calling it "for sure the most unexpected" Hello Kitty crossover. “The idea sounded crazy in the beginning," he admits. "But Gene and Paul are not only rock icons, they are incredible creative minds who were soon able to see a future success."
'Kiss Hello Kitty' is currently in the early stages of development. No air dates have yet been announced.