Hello Kitty Smart Car: Three Designs. “Smart Expressions” Smart Car Branding Program. Suzanne Ashe @ CNET: “It’s like driving your elementary school lunch box--without the sour-milk smell.”

The Hello Kitty Smart Car wraps, part of the “Smart Expressions” Smart Car Branding Program from Smart USA, inc. come with three designs. Each of the wraps come with a three-year warranty and the pricing starts at $550 for partial wraps (two-door panel) and $1,700 for full wraps.Some media outlets and blogs are questioning the wisdom or appeal of wrapping a Smart car in Hello Kitty designs, such as Suzanne Ashe of CNET , obviously not a Hello Kitty fan, had a different opinion: “It’s like driving your elementary school lunch box--without the sour-milk smell.”

But the leadership at the two companies involved both have high hopes: Janet Hsu, president of Sanrio, Inc. said:

“Our collaboration with Smart USA allows fans to truly embrace the Hello Kitty lifestyle. This is the first time that Sanrio will offer a Hello Kitty car in the United States.”

While Kim McGill, the vice president of marketing at Smart USA, also had nice words for the offering:

“We are expanding the highly successful Smart program by adding licensed brands as part of our wrap offerings. Both Hello Kitty and Smart are expressive with a passionate following, and this is a special opportunity to bring the two fan bases together.”

Many commentators and bloggers have also questioned whether or not this says too much about who is driving the car (namely a young or teen female driver), citing potential safety issues, while others would state that Hello Kitty car decals have been in use for a long time without issues. This time, however, for better or worse, it definitely catches the eye of all around. Regardless of the safety of the driver of the car itself, some may wonder if the decals might turn heads: especially ones that need to pay attention to driving. Time will tell if the roads become filled with Hello Kitty or not.