As “Tiger King” has become a spring sensation, people have quite adamantly aligned themselves as supporters of either the titular star (who goes by his stage name of Joe Exotic), or his antagonist, Carole Baskin. For those viewers who are looking for more means to fall for the personalities, the merchandise world has begun to give them their chance, with Baskin recently releasing branded face masks that bear her catchphrase, “Hey, all you cool cats and kittens.”
🐯Would you buy a face mask from Carole Baskin? https://t.co/YQaUU8SQcu
— KSAT 12 (@ksatnews) May 19, 2020
Having aired between March 20 and April 12, “Tiger King” has become a perfect form of escapism as the nation wrestles with the COVID-19 pandemic. So it seems natural that someone would look to make some bucks off the true crime documentary’s popularity. Joe Exotic has spent the last nearly three weeks doing just that through an apparel line, even though he’s serving a 22-year prison sentence for having organized a murder-for-hire plot against Baskin, who, as the owner of Big Cat Rescue, was a rival to his tiger-based line of work.
With the way the world is going, though, nothing surprises us, so her reaction to his creations, which include a “Revenge” face mask, find her issuing a branded face mask of her own. According to her merch site, proceeds from the $11 Cool Kittens item will support “the big cats.” That vagueness might give someone pause, but, again, this is 2020, so it takes a huge effort to present us something that we could even think to deem shocking.
Given that Baskin has become a major element of many individuals’ entertainment needs, we expect for the product—which her site also says will support first responders and their families and local small businesses—to take off and inspire other novelties related to Baskin. If Joe Exotic can add to his bank account while in the slammer, his adversary stands the same chance, if not an enhanced one, of milking her 15 minutes of fame, especially since she just finished selling a T-shirt with her (in)famous saying, too.
Hey you cool cats and kittens! Here's my first ever limited edition tee that I designed just for you! It's only available until May 19 at https://t.co/QOCzULdxn8 100% of the net proceeds support the Big Cat Rescue pic.twitter.com/M2z5uV37NK
— Big Cat Rescue (@BigCatRescue) May 15, 2020
