
The Babysitters Club - haldean
http://reallifemag.com/the-babysitters-club/
======
bitwize
Cuteness is everywhere in Japan and it's not just anime girls and Hello Kitty.
It's things like graphics of characters bowing on ATM and vending machines,
and the Tokyo Police mascot, a sort of Pikachu/Astro Boy hybrid named Pipo-
kun. This is a country where failure to be sufficiently serious and
industrious is a black spot not on just your good name, but those of your
parents and grandparents. And yet, cuteness which would be perceived as
offensive or even unsettling here is critical to marketing strategy there.

It serves a social function. It helps break the ice and gets the consumer to
perceive a company or institution as friendly and helpful. Maybe you can build
the case that Japanese are somewhat infantilized and like to feel swaddled by
the loving care of large corporations and political institutions, but I think
it's more that they are rather conflict-averse, and cuteness in marketing is a
way to get confrontation off the table.

~~~
throwanem
Neat. The article isn't about Japan, though.

~~~
swsieber
You're right. But neither is the GP's comment. He's using it to show that
perhaps cuteness is not an attempt to treat us like kids.

~~~
throwanem
Yeah, but that's my point. If we lived in a culture where cuteness carried the
same valence as it does in Japan, or if we were talking about apps developed
in Japan, by people immersed in Japanese culture, which just happened to make
their way to the US - that'd be one thing. But we're not.

------
dexwiz
There was another article recently discussing cuteness and its disarming
effects [1]. This author is obviously hyper aware of cuteness in apps. But the
average user is not going to give much thought into it. In fact, the cuteness
is probably not supposed to convey a thought, only a passing feeling. Too much
cuteness is easily revolting (think the PINK barbie aisle in a toy store). But
just enough cute helps give an emotion to a brand.

Brands of the previous generations were arguably more masculine (Reliable,
Tough, Powerful, Extreme, New). But these emotions don't really work for
everything. Do I really need Yelp to be Mountain Dew Extreme or Ford Tough?
No. I am not sure what I emotion I want Yelp to be, but cute is an easy
default. Especially for a generation that is accused of not growing up,
aligning a brand with a "child-like" emotion is not a bad idea.

We should be aware of it though. The "NEW" obsession of the last 50 years has
resulted in a massively wasteful consumer culture. Arguably companies want to
sell new stuff, so they sell the New version. But the obsession with the New
version has probably had some amount of feedback forcing companies to constant
produce upgrades.

[1] Related article and discussion
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/19/kumamon-the-
ne...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/19/kumamon-the-new-science-
of-cute)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12127650](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12127650)

~~~
douche
Ugh, cuteness. Although I am kind of a fan of NancyFX's commissioned The
Oatmeal error pages[1]... But it's not necessarily a great look for a more
serious product. On the other hand, most internet businesses are not
particularly serious - what makes sense for Twitter would be ridiculous for
Colt Arms or Caterpillar Tractors, or Amalgamated Magnesium (imagine, Coltie,
the six-shooter-packing adolescent cowboy horse mascot...)

Apparently the fail-whale is no more? Today I'm seeing something that looks
like a robot version of the sock-monkey

[1] [http://mike-ward.net/2013/04/11/custom-error-pages-in-
nancyf...](http://mike-ward.net/2013/04/11/custom-error-pages-in-nancyfx/)

------
paul_milovanov
From the "you're factually wrong department":

> Yelp, like Google, makes money by collecting consumer data and reselling it
> to advertisers.

False. Google does not resell consumer data to advertisers, nor anybody else,
and never has. It does, of course, use this information, as per its privacy
policy, to display ads that are hopefully most relevant for a particular user
(and allows the user to view & control what information is stored about them,
e.g through Privacy Dashboard). At no point does information about the user
leave Google.

This might seem like a minor nuance, but the difference in trust and privacy
implications are enormous. User trust is Google's single most important asset
and a whole lot of work, attention and money goes into earning it and keeping
it.

Disclosure: I'm employed by Google. Enjoy the Kool-aid.

~~~
MatekCopatek
Well, depends on how you define "reselling data". One could argue that giving
advertisers an application where they can target users based on a bunch of
metrics that are personal data from the user's point of view is also
"reselling data", even though it's not in the form of a database of names and
birthdays.

But in the strictest sense, you're absolutely right.

~~~
russell_h
I don't think that is a reasonable definition of "reselling data".

If I offered to sell you data, I expect you'd be surprised if after collecting
payment I clarified that you couldn't actually have the data.

------
syntheticnature
I'm not even sure where to start with this article. There are valid points,
but they are shuffled up (is this against smartphones, corporations treating
customers as kids, or as it seems at the end, taking issue with hot topic
Pokemon Go), bathed in smugness (look how self-aware I am that this is like a
temper-tantrum!), and taken quite far.

If you take the author at his word, cuteness, and corporations being
patronizing (and the two are linked here), are a new trend, not something
obvious even in early advertising.

Further, I find it quite ironic that a publication started by SnapChat is
calling out the possible misuse of camera imagery from Pokemon Go. I figure if
the cameras were regularly uploading we'd know by now, by size of data usage
if nothing else.

In the end, as someone with an Android phone, never saw that hamster in Yelp
before. So I suppose it got me to go find an Easter egg hidden there.

~~~
icebraining
I don't think the points are shuffled; the main topic is the infantilization
of consumers by companies. Cuteness, targeting products more appropriate for
children to adults (like coloring books or Pokemon), etc are simply examples
of that broader point. And while this was obviously used since the beginning,
was it ever a _trend_? When was that?

------
throwanem
The whole "adult coloring book" thing initially struck me as weird and vaguely
sad, but then I realized it's not substantially dissimilar to the way I use
hand chores - not so much as a way of falling asleep, but as a method of
relieving stress by finding something to concentrate on that isn't in any way
related to work. Unlike a coloring book, hand chores also provide a sense of
accomplishment, because you're actually doing something with a valuable result
instead of just burning ink and time.

For me, sewing is a great option; I always have a zipper to fix or a patch to
sew on or a seam to reinforce or _something_ \- if nothing else, I'll whip up
something out of patches and scraps, just so's not to have old clothes go to
waste. It's the same kind of concentration that goes into precise coloring,
but in three dimensions, and you end up with something useful to show for your
time. It's definitely worth a try, and all you need to start is a pair of
scissors, a spool of thread, a needle, and some fabric to work with. (I can't
be the only one with old clothes sitting around!)

------
imgabe
> This hamster has a name. It’s Hammy. ... Who is the person who enjoys this?

I think it's a mistake to assume that enjoyment of that hamster defines a
class of people unto itself. Maybe one person who enjoys it is a 45 year old
housewife, maybe another is a 22 year old graphic designer, maybe another is a
63 year old retired accountant. Among "people who enjoy a cartoon hamster" the
thing they most have in common is probably just their enjoyment of that
hamster.

This whole article seems to say a lot more about the author than it does about
the apps being criticized. How insecure do you have to be to wonder whether a
subway ad is talking down to you?

~~~
alexandercrohde
Spot on. In fact, what this really says to me is that these apps and movies
are in fact much-loved by people who feel like they aren't supposed to love a
"kid's movie." I have numerous professional guy friends who feel embarrassed
going to pixar movies without their girlfriend present as an excuse, but I can
tell by the way they talk about them that they like them.

Is it possible Yelp A/B tested Hammy?

------
xxr
>In her essay “The Cuteness of the Avant-Garde,” Sianne Ngai, a professor at
Stanford, theorizes cuteness as an “aesthetic of powerlessness.” In the face
of the overwhelming question — “What’s it for?” — a strain of avant-garde art
responds by playing up its inutility, she argues.

When I began reading this article, I was reminded of the cuteness that
overwhelmed social media/web branding about five years ago--everything had a
little laughing monster or a big smiling whale. At the time, I figured it was
trendy and a means of appealing to mainstream, non-geek/non-nerd/non-whatever
audiences, but now I wonder to what extent they were staring down their own
uselessness.

------
schoen
Eat24 (which was acquired by Yelp) does this a lot too. ("Give your thumbs a
rest: You just made food happen!")

The jokey things they encourage people to tweet about having ordered from
Eat24 are really something. (It would be interesting to think about what some
of the messages in them are; I think there's something more than talking-to-
little-kids there.)

~~~
throwanem
Eat24 does a lot of things, including pissing off restaurants to the point
where you have to talk them into not blacklisting you because they don't call
or email if you use Apple Pay for an order with a special request that
requires adjustment of the total. I discovered this on a day when I'd just got
back from an exhausting conference and really didn't want to deal with
anything beyond eating something and going to bed. Thanks, Eat24!

Eat24 also really sucks at handling account cancellation/deletion requests,
above and beyond the degree to which their customer service has gone to hell
since the Yelp acquisition. I've been trying to cancel and delete my account
per their privacy policy for almost a week now, and oddly enough, it's become
impossible to get anyone to respond via email or website messaging. So that's
more time wasted and frustration added. Thanks, Eat24!

~~~
lsmarigo
Agreed - I just recently stopped using Eat24, I was a whale for them as well
(~4-5 orders a week), using ubereats + grubhub now.

~~~
throwanem
How are you finding Grubhub? I've been trying OrderUp, but it's a little bit
of a mess, and their customer support has yet to answer an inquiry that's a
couple days stale by now. I gather Grubhub is more or less eating everybody's
lunch, excuse me, but before I sign up with yet another bloody website, I'd
like to get an opinion from someone who's already using it.

(Postmates is good, too, if it's in your area, but the fees can get a little
spendy.)

~~~
lsmarigo
Hey I'll have to check out OrderUp haven't heard of that, grubhub has been
good so far - I haven't had to contact their support for anything yet so can't
speak to that but in general I've found many places have lower delivery fees.
They also have their own drivers which is nice.

Ubereats actually comes in cheapest if you're ordering for just yourself, no
need order extra food to hit a delivery minimum.

------
russell_h
These companies are targeting urban millennials who shun things that feel
"corporate". The "cute" voice feels sociable without being alienating to their
customer base the way a lot of alternatives might be.

~~~
pjlegato
Yep. Ironically, the next generation will likely find this sort of saccharine
cuteness to be hopelessly old-fashioned and conservative, the same way the
60s/70s counterculture rejected the aesthetic of the cutesy cartoon corporate
mascots that were common in the 50s and early 60s.

------
aaron695
Meh, you were told and thought the world was X but really it's Y but you're
resisting because you don't like change.

Adults through out the ages passed on from the awesomeness of childhood,
because their kids and friends died all the time, they starved and were
abused.

Now we can be as we wish in many societies. Which include having fun, get over
you the world view your grandparents taught you.

~~~
rdiddly
Non-awesome aspects of childhood include having to depend on people you can't
necessarily trust. What if (as a child) your caretaker or parent is an
alcoholic narcissist? Too bad. And what if (as an adult) the entity that wants
you dependent on it is a corporate "person" with only a profit motive and no
morals or conscience?

------
Animats
Japan does cuteness as whimsy, not humor. This works better. Some of the
cuteness is functional, such as the jingles which identify train stations.

Here's an advertiser that understands whimsy, without talking down to their
customers - Caterpillar.[1][2][3] Here's a tech company that gets it right:
Volvo.[4] This is an ad for their self-driving car. In both cases, the
manufacturer has a product that's visibly better than its competitors, and
just needs to get that message out. It's harder when your product isn't that
great.

Food delivery startups seem to be especially pretentious. They are perhaps
trying to differentiate themselves from the low-end services that deliver
Chinese food and fried chicken. They're not succeeding. Doordash: "minute by
minute, morsel by morsel, we've broken down every step of your food's journey
into a perfect science." In reality, you get your food in a paper bag, cold.

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVPku-
xItv8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVPku-xItv8) [2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nltqM_Q-
cwg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nltqM_Q-cwg) [3]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS9D1VqBcmI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS9D1VqBcmI)
[4]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJwKuWz_lkE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJwKuWz_lkE)

------
cdelsolar
I am a 32 year old man and I like cuteness.

------
fragola
Only tangentially related: I'm a little skeptical about the claim that
"caretaker speech" shows adeptness -- have there been any studies about
whether it helps or hinders your kid to say stuff like "doggy-woggy"?

~~~
Nadya
The short answer is "Research shows that yes, it probably helps". It gets the
child's attention better being a part of it. :P

[0]
[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1207/s15327078in0701_5...](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1207/s15327078in0701_5/abstract)

[1]
[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/01636383928...](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016363839280003D)

You can find more citations at the bottom of this page:
[http://www.parentingscience.com/baby-
talk.html](http://www.parentingscience.com/baby-talk.html)

~~~
fragola
Thanks! Especially that last article is pretty informative. I automatically
use baby talk with my baby, but I've always felt kind of ridiculous and guilty
about it. Now I can say it's science, I guess.

~~~
ghufran_syed
I can't see the full paper, but I don't think you can draw the conclusion that
they do. The outstanding question that remains is whether it is the choice of
words that seemed to affect the difference in attentiveness, or the tones in
which the words were delivered. Edit: the final link in the parent does indeed
address the issue I raised, I had only read the last of the numbered
references, [1].

------
erdevs
I think a little personality from the products/services you use is nice. And
some personalities are cutesy. As long as it doesn't get in the way too much,
I don't see what there is to fuss about.

Personally would rather take what we have now in terms of product voice than
revert to the souless, bland, offend-no-one product and corporate voices
common as of, say, the 80s.

------
B1FF_PSUVM
_" There is no better example of cuteness applied in the service of power-
concealment than Pokémon Go, which is a large data-collection and surveillance
network devised by the former Google Earth engineers at Niantic and then
candy-coated with Nintendo IP."_

Author Jesse Barron is a big meanie, and is not getting dessert any time soon.

Nyah nyah.

------
empath75
Maybe Yelp needs a 'grown-ass man' template for people who can't tolerate
cartoon hamsters.

I just realized that I use Yelp a few times a week and I don't think I've ever
noticed the hamster before.

------
jeffehobbs
Busted link, y'all.

