Out of stock: Ebola plush toys

Long day? Tired? How about cuddling up to a nice, soft…Ebola virus?

Unless you got in early, you're out of luck: a company that sells oversize plush viruses, bacteria and other maladies is sold out of Ebola in light of the current outbreak.

Image source: Giant Microbes

Via CNBC:

In what some may be tempted to call the least tasteful advertising campaign in the history of marketing, a website called Giant Microbes, which promotes "learning & fun," is selling an Ebola plush toy for $9.95. "Since its discovery in 1976, Ebola has become the T. Rex of microbes," reads the product write-up. "Share the love!"

Giant Microbes has been around for a long time, known for selling plush toys representing everything from HIV to botulism. As for the Ebola toy, "We are currently out of stock worldwide," said Laura Sullivan, vice president of marketing for Giant Microbes. "We have continued to sell out a number of times over the last couple of months."

Now, it's unfair for CNBC to imply that Giant Microbes is just now jumping in to make a quick buck off people's macabre fascinations with Ebola. The toys aren't actually new — I've had one since high school.

An unhealthy fascination with "The Hot Zone," repeat viewings of "Outbreak" and, of course, "24" season three — what more do you need to be the coolest kid in school? Answer:

The Morgenstern collection

(Cellphone photo courtesy of my mom, who was kind enough to oblige my East Coast-time text this morning.)

Tag's still attached, by the way, not that I'd let it go.

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Follow Madeleine Morgenstern (@MadeleineBlaze) on Twitter, where nowadays she mostly tweets Ebola links.