This all started with a campaign from environmental group milieudefensie. They aimed to reduce the environmental burden associated with junk mail and introduced the NEE NEE sticker. It came in two variants:

NEE / JA

This means you don’t want to receive junk mail, but you do want to receive the local free paper.

NEE / NEE

This means you want neither junk mail nor local papers. In fact you don’t want any bulk mailings in your letterbox.

Over the years this sticker became so widely used that government endorsed it. It is pretty well honored too, but it’s not the law. They can stick junk mail into your letterbox even if you have a NEE/NEE. And when the mailing people know you address, all bets are off. Addressed mail will always be delivered, even if it is addressed to ‘the occupants of this house’.

The character is so recognizable that she is a true global brand, much like Hello Kitty. Not bad for Dick Bruna, Nijntje’s father, who invented her for his then one-year old son. Or should I say, invented him? There is some confusion as to whether Nijntje is a boy or a girl. Dick himself stated that Nijntje is a boy in his own biography, but the official website says Nijntje is a girl. In the animated series, her voice is female as well. It doesn’t matter a whole lot anyway. S/he is just Nijntje.

Nijntje aka Miffy

Nijntjes first book was named simply Nijntje, and many more have been published since. Every Nijntje book is the same: 24 pages, a verse on the left-hand pages and an illustration on the right-hand page. Dick Bruna deserves a huge amount of credit for his work. The character has been simplified as much as possible, but not too much. She is always in two colours (black and white) and only a handful other colours are used on the pages. The stories are simple, yet powerful. Babies have no trouble recognizing her from a distance.

Commercial success

Author Dick Bruna has been lucky to retain the copyrights to Nijntje for himself. Everywhere Nijntje appears is officially sanctioned by himself. This ensures the Nijntje brand is globally uniform, and this in turn allows one illustrator to market and sell his character all over the world. It will be no surprise the Japanse adore Nijntje. Over the last decades Nijntje has appeared in booklets, posters, toys, mugs, well practically every child-related item you can think of. Dick Bruna is still alive today and still produces Nijntje books.

More Nijntje

By the way, Nijntje has a family name too. Her full name is Nijntje Pluis, which translates to Miffy Fluffy, but I am not sure she has a family name in English.