Speaking in broad and general terms, this is a website driven by all things cute and quirky. Nowhere else on the internet will you find more unicorns, and nor are you likely to find a larger repository of cute and cuddly animals, whether they’re represented by photographs or interpreted as art. In many ways, cuteness has come to define it’s been proven much of the culture of the site - but is it ours, or have we borrowed it from elsewhere?

We might like to consider our use of cute characters to be a form of counter-culture: a rejection of the imagery of the norm, and a desire to embrace the more innocent, childish aspects of ourselves. Cute characters and cute animals make us feel warm and fuzzy, and provide a welcome distraction away from the more unpalatable elements of the outside world. There's actually a science to this; online slots that we’re attracted to the small, cute faces and wide eyes of animals and animal characters because we want to nurture and care for them. Some of the researchers who carried out the tests have speculated that it appeals to an evolutionary need embedded within all of us to care for our own children.

Is there a more sinister edge to it, though? Is all the cuteness we see on the internet as innocent as it appears to be, or has it become a form of marketing? If it has, did the marketers steal it from us, or have we all fallen victim to marketing without even realizing it?

Cuteness At The Casino

It’s hard to think of a more corporate business entity than a casino. Casinos exist to make money, and they make a profit when their players lose at the games they’re playing. They also present an opportunity to win - and many people (perhaps you included) have enjoyed large or small wins when playing casino games. It’s still big business, though, and it’s not an industry you’d normally associate with being cute or cuddly.

While the people who control the industry may not be the cutest and most cuddly people in the world, it doesn't mean that they don't know the value of cute. Log on to any respectable mobile slots site, and look at the list of the most popular online slots they offer. You should find one there called 'Fluffy Favorites.' Instead of looking like what you'd imagine a 'standard' mobile slots game to look like, the game features a gang of cute and furry animals frolicking across the reels. They're adorable, and they work as a draw to the general public. The game earns millions of dollars per year, and yet it looks like it was drawn by a Deviant Art user. That isn't cuteness being used as counter-culture: it's cuteness that's gone mainstream, and it's being used as a hook.

A Japanese Marketing Export

We don't mean that statement to be disrespectful to the people who made 'Fluffy Favorites' - if they can use cute characters to persuade people to play their games, then they've hit on a viable business model. It also isn't a new thing - we can go back decades and see the same tactic being used in another field. Much of the more popular artwork we see here is vaguely Japanese in style, with imagery borrowed from anime, manga, and Kawaii. In America and Europe, interest in such topics is considered to be a subculture. In Japan - where the style originated - it's as big as business can be. We are, after all, talking about the birthplace of Hello Kitty.

Just over forty years ago, Hello Kitty was nothing but an idea in the mind of Yuko Shimizu. Fast forward to the here and now, and it's a company with a net worth of seven billion dollars. Shimizu still wasn't the first person to recognize the commercial value of cuteness, but he was the first to weaponize it so aggressively. There was nothing spectacular about the first goods that the company sold - and many people would make a case that there's still nothing spectacular about them now. It was the logo that sold the product, and people were drawn to the logo because of how cute it looked. Shimizu had built a template for advertising and merchandising that went beyond even Disney's commercial reach at the time, and that template is still revered by major marketing companies. In other words, big companies have known that cuteness is a sales tool for longer than the majority of people reading this have been alive. We’re not rejecting the system by retreating into the imagery of childhood - we’re playing right into the hands of people who want to use that imagery to sell to us.

The purpose of this piece isn't to dissuade people from their current preferred style. If drawing cats, dogs, and unicorns brings you peace and contentment, then you should carry on doing it. If looking at pictures of the same things makes you a little happier, then you should carry on doing that, too. Just don't assume that every time you see something that seems to speak directly to you and your artistic interests that it's as innocent as it might appear to be at first glance. Cuteness is a comfort blanket for many of us, but it's also a commercial asset for global corporations and master marketeers. Sometimes, unfortunate as it might be, the cutest character you've ever seen doesn't just want to give you a virtual hug and make you smile. It wants to sell you a product and take your money. If you don't believe us, consider the massive money-making machine that Pokemon represents.

As with most things, there's always another way of using this information. Many of us harbor dreams of being comic book illustrators or animators. We all know that it's a difficult market to break into. Perhaps we've all been looking in the wrong place. Perhaps instead of applying to comic book publishers, we should be applying for marketing positions. After all, you know what they say - if you can't beat them, join them!