The Hello Kitty character was created by the Japanese company Sanrio in 1974, and now adorns thousands of products from T-shirts to vacuum cleaners. Kitty started life as a greeting-card character, and the company quickly expanded the use of the brand into children's merchandising and fashion. The Kitty logo now appears on a wide range of licensed products. Kitty is undoubtedly the star of the Sanrio brand theme park in Japan, Puroland, which is home to a host of merchandising characters. She even offers a wedding service, with Kitty-face western-style wedding dresses for hire.  Some of Hello Kitty's friends are Chococat, Badtz Maru, Cinnamoroll and Pochacco.  Sanrio Surprises store are in malls all over the world.