Cuteness can be powerful on a national level and also internationally, according to this study:
“Soft Power: ʻCute Culture’, A Persuasive Strategy in Japanese Advertising,” Oana-Maria Bîrlea, TRAMES, A Journal Of The Humanities And Social Sciences, 2023, pp. 311–324. The author [pictured here] explains:
“The article addresses the ways in which soft power is used in Japanese advertising, both domestic and abroad. After the challenges brought by the end of World War II, Japan finds as a means of recovery the export of a new type of culture, focused on values different from the traditional ones and regains its place through cultural diplomacy (soft power)…. The objective of this work is to show through different examples the main reasons why this overwhelmingly cute culture gained rapid popularity in Japan and abroad, going so far as to be used even by the government as part of advertising campaigns.”