Sweet Charity indeed! Hello Kitty teams up with world-renowned patissier for a worthy cause

Kay Jun 15, 2014
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They say charity is sweet, but we’re pretty sure it doesn’t come much sweeter than this. Yes, it’s a charity project that involves an internationally renowned patissier, as well as the most famous mascot cat in the world, and it’s called “Macaron Day“. Even the name sounds sweet, doesn’t it?

As the name suggests, the charity features the delectable macarons created by master pastry chef Pierre Hermé, but it’s also about raising money for children fighting serious diseases. And this year, our beloved Hello Kitty will be pitching in to help with the project —by becoming the PR ambassador for Macaron Day in Japan! Now, we know we’ve often described Hello Kitty as a hardcore entrepreneur who isn’t at all picky about the jobs she takes on, but this time, she’s all about seriously contributing to a good cause. But what kind of event is this Macaron Day, and how exactly did Hello Kitty become involved in it?

Macaron Day (Jour du Macaron) is a charity that has been going on for nine years in France. It initially began on a small scale as Pierre Hermé’s personal project at his shop, but has since grown into a large annual charity event supported by various organizations and individuals, including many members of the Relais Dessert, an international association of top confectioners from around the world. In France, the event is held each year in late March and the proceeds from selling the charity macarons go to the organization ” Vaincre la Mucoviscidose (Conquer CF)” to support the fight against Cystic Fibrosis. The event has also spread to Japan, where it is now held on the day of the summer solstice, which this year falls on June 21. Here in Japan, the charity proceeds are donated to the “National Network to Support Children with Serious Illnesses”.

Further, it has now become customary to designate a special “PR ambassador” each year to promote Macaron Day in Japan. And it so happens that this year, the honor has been bestowed on none other than Hello Kitty!

Here’s a video that tells the story of how Hello Kitty came to be an ambassador for Macaron Day Japan. The video is in Japanese, so we’ve followed it with a summary of the content in English.

“Hello Kitty, who is celebrating her 40th anniversary this year, decided she wanted to express her appreciation to all her friends and fans around the world by starting various projects and activities filled with a message of arigato — thank you. One of the ideas she came up with was to learn to make sweets that could make people around her happy.

With that goal in mind, Hello Kitty mustered her courage and wrote a letter to the world-famous patissier Pierre Hermé, asking him to teach her how to make macarons that will make people all over the world smile with happiness. In reply, Hermé wrote back inviting Hello Kitty to come to his shop in Paris to make macarons with him. And so it was that Hello Kitty made her way to Paris to visit Hermé’s shop.

At the shop, Hello Kitty was thoroughly captivated by the beautiful sweets created by Hermé, who some have called the ‘Picasso of the pastry world’. She was delighted to finally meet Hermé in person, and when Hermé saw how serious Hello Kitty was about making the macarons, he asked her to become the special ambassador for Macaron Day. Touched by the project’s aim to spread happiness in the world through macarons, Hello Kitty gladly accepted the offer …”

The video then finishes after briefly mentioning the history of Macaron Day in both France and Japan.

▼ The video follows Hello Kitty’s trip to Paris. Here she is delighted at the sights of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower …

▼ … and the Louvre.

▼ Hello Kitty arrives at Pierre Hermé’s shop.

▼ And she’s absolutely thrilled with the beautiful sweets on display!

▼ Such gorgeous works of art made of puffs and creams and fruits!

▼ Hello Kitty finally meets Pierre Hermé, the master patissier himself.

▼ Here, Hello Kitty is hard at work learning how macarons are made.

▼ And in the end, Pierre Hermé asks Hello Kitty to be the PR ambassador, to which she happily agrees.

The campaign surrounding Macaron Day will go on from June 1 to 21, and during that time,a special gift box of 20 macarons will be sold that includes the Rose Jasmine macaron specifically created as a tribute to Hello Kitty. There will also be a donation box placed at the Pierre Hermé shop in Aoyama. And on Macaron Day itself, June 21, they will apparently be giving out free macarons at select shops, and Hello Kitty herself will be making an appearance at the Aoyama shop. There will even be a special “Macaron Night” party that evening featuring various sweets by Hermé as well as hugs from Hello Kitty, but tickets for the party seem to have sold out almost instantaneously — well, that’s no surprise, this is the world’s most famous kitty we’re talking about, after all.

▼ The special box of 20 macarons, priced at 9,720yen (US$95) — the macarons of course look beautiful in all their bright colors, but it’s amazing how cute the box itself is!

▼ The Rose Jasmine macaron created specially for Hello Kitty that contains jasmine flavored white chocolate ganache and rose flavored buttercream

That all sounds like good fun, doesn’t it? And if you can treat yourself or someone dear to you to delectable macarons while giving to a worthy cause, then that’s what we call a win-win situation. Kudos to Pierre Hermé and Hello Kitty for their charitable efforts, because the world certainly needs all the “sweet” charity it can get. Here’s hoping Macaron Day in Japan is a big success!

Source: Pierre Hermé Japan website, YouTube (Pierre Hermé Paris JPN) (both in Japanese)
Top image: YouTube (Pierre Hermé Paris JPN)
Inset photos of the macaron box and Rose Jasmine macaron: Pierre Hermé Japan website
All other inset photos: YouTube (Pierre Hermé Paris JPN)