Nasty Germs Get the Stuffed Animal Treatment

How would you like to cuddle up to a soft, cushy plushie of…the herpes virus? How about diarrhea? Or maybe E. coli is more your style.

Thanks to Connecticut toy company GIANTmicrobes, you can buy creepy/cute stuffed toys modeled after icky viruses and bacteria (chicken pox, Salmonella) and gross maladies like athlete’s foot.

Each toy is a magnified plush version of a real microorganism, with two button eyes that are supposed to somehow convince you that the Flu virus is huggable.

If you can get past the yuck-factor, GIANTmicrobes can be used as learning tools—every germ comes with an image and information about the microbe it represents.

As for me, the only thing these germy playthings make me want to do is wash my hands and pop a double-dose of vitamin C.

What do you think? Are GIANTmicrobes cute or creepy?