When a product gets the Hello Kitty imagery slapped onto it, does that mean the product is doomed to failure, or success? Either way, I don’t really like the idea of a technology that I want taken more seriously adorned with the least serious branding that I can personally think of.

The Hello Kitty solar charger comes in at $160 USD, and includes a built-in 1200mAh lithium battery. The battery takes six hours of sunlight to charge, or you can cheat and plug it into an outlet and have the battery charged in an hour, which I am sure most people will do.

The device was created to charge a myriad of small electronics via USB, and while I think it is interesting to see a new product hit the market, the price point, and branding definitely turn me off.

Does this mean the start of the crapification of the solar cell? I mean, it was pretty bad when everyone and their mother bought small solar garden lights at Wal-Mart, but will we now see Barbie and Transformers solar technology? What kind of message does this give to children, teenagers, or the adult fanboys and girls that buy this branded “garbage”.

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