Let's start with the guy on the right.
Kidney Mug!
I'm familiar with the line of cartoon organs that were used by some medical company on a variety of products, and when I saw this mug on the shelf, I recognized it to be so. When I turned him over, sure enough, stamped on his foot was "KIDNEY." All of the cartoon organs were amusing, but unfortunately I can't seem to find any information about them at the moment. If anybody knows anything more about the organs, post a comment and let me know. The only other identified mug I was able to find was the stomach, and the person didn't have any more information about it. You can see what that looks like here. There's also a group shot of a few, but I can't say I'm medically inclined enough to know what they all are, although one is surely a liver. See it here.
Anyways, the fact that the medical company responsible somehow succeeded in transforming something like an internal organ into something cute enough to drink coffee out of is nothing short of miraculous. You'll no doubt be the talk around the water cooler when you emerge from your cubicle with one of these babies in hand.
Cost of Kidney Mug: $.10
Joe Camel Mug!
You know, I really miss Joe Camel. I'm not sure there's ever been a cartoon character as cool as Joe. He always wore sunglasses, and he was always smoking. The slogan isn't "Smooth Character" for nothing. I don't remember the names of the other Camel characters, but they were nearly as cool as Joe, dressed to the nines and puffing away.
Perhaps some of you are too young to remember Joe Camel, so here's the rundown. He was an extremely popular character used to advertise Camel cigarettes, but eventually some whiny Americans began questioning whether using a cartoon to sell cigarettes wasn't influencing children to smoke. Then late one night, some unidentified figures in windpants were seen entering Joe Camel's apartment building. The next morning he was found burned to death in his bed. The coroner concluded he'd fallen asleep smoking, but many felt that there were still questions unanswered, spawning a mass of conspiracy theories which to this day have not been silenced.
Where the merchandise comes in, such as my fantastic mug, is with Camel Cash. With more crackdowns on smoking these days, it's unlikely that there are still rewards to be won by more smoking, but back in the day, each pack of Camels would come with one Camel Cash note stuck to the back. The notes could then be collected and used to buy merchandise from their official catalog. Marlboro did much the same thing with Marlboro Miles. The prizes weren't just crap, either. They ranged from the smaller items like the mug I bought all the way up to camping equipment, even electronics. All I can say is I'm glad someone else did the smoking so that I could enjoy the mug. It's a good mug, an edgy mug. RIP Joe. Your coolness lives on. In cancer cells.
Cost of Joe Camel Mug: $.25
So yeah, mugs! Mugs are fun, and mugs are cool. Mugs are real neat. I think I like mugs. These mugs are also related, because smoking is bad for your kidneys.
