Hulk no smash

I can appreciate good cross promotions: books of movies, toys of books, soundtracks of tv shows.
I get it.
You need to strike while the iron is hot.
But c'mon people - a Hulk plushie?

This poor guy isn't fierce enough to be cool or cute enough to be cuddly.
He's just... green. And vaguely unsettling.
Why is he grinning so big?!?!

knock it off

I'm not really a designer-label, brand-name kinda girl.
I will only buy Bounty paper towels and I will only use Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup in my green bean casserole, but besides those two i don't care about brands. Generally, i buy what is on sale, as long as it works.
Also, i usually don't really mind knock-offs.
Sometimes, companies work so hard to avoid copyright and trademark infringement that the resulting product is downright hilarious, like when TM Amy bought the Transmogrifier, Starholler at a convenience store.
I do embrace that there might be a cheaper version of something for those of us in lower tax brackets. BUT, a girl has got to draw the line somewhere.
 
What is with these Hello Kitty wannabes?
 They have a slightly different shaped head, a pink nose instead of yellow and wings: tiny, blue wings.
Ridiculous, i say.
The worst part is her name,
Angel Cat Sugar.
I don't know why that name bothers me so much, but it really rankles my nerves. I was aghast, people, just aghast. Until I found out that Angel Cat Sugar isn't exactly a Hello Kitty knock-off; she's from a line of toys designed by the original Hello Kitty creator, Yuko Shimizu, introduced in 2002 whose popularity in Europe has apparently increased in the last two years.
So she's like Hello Kitty's younger, European step-sister.
I don't know if that makes me less agitated by her existence, or more.
One question remains: what in the world was she doing in the discount Christmas aisle of my CVS?

off-topic note: Happy 1-11-11!