# Camel cigarettes and the subliminal naked man **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2000, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-cigarettes-and-the-subliminal-naked-man/9364 "2000-03-28T22:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Red\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Red\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_2)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-cigarettes-and-the-subliminal-naked-man/9364/1 "2000-03-28T22:32:00Z")
Has anyone else seen the subliminal naked man sticking out Mr. Winky on packs of Camel cigarettes? I’m wondering if this is for real or if it’s just some coincidence. If you can’t see it I’ll post where to look. Hint: he’s part of the camel. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-cigarettes-and-the-subliminal-naked-man/9364/2 "2000-03-28T23:02:00Z")
From Cecil’s column [Are subliminal messages secretly embedded in advertisements?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_344.html) : > [@](#): > > As for the alleged Camel embed … well, judge for yourself. People have been claiming to see mysterious figures in the illustration of the camel virtually since the day the brand was introduced nationally in 1913. (The drawing is based on a photo of Ol’ Joe, a camel in the Barnum & Bailey Circus.) The man with the erection is sometimes identified as a woman, and there’s supposedly a lion lurking near the camel’s hindquarters. An R.J. Reynolds spokesman claims it’s all just coincidence. Unfortunately, we can’t ask the original artist–his name has been lost, the company says, and he’s probably long dead anyway. Reynolds has never bothered to modify the drawing because it only gets about ten letters on the subject a year. Or so they tell me. Believe what you like. Please try to remember to check the archives before posting a question. * * * [NYC IRL III](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/006163.html) is on April 15th. Do you have what it takes? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-cigarettes-and-the-subliminal-naked-man/9364/3 "2000-03-28T23:09:00Z")
Check [snopes](http://www.snopes.com/spoons/legends/camel.htm), too. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-cigarettes-and-the-subliminal-naked-man/9364/4 "2000-03-29T03:53:00Z")
He’s there, all right. Very blatant. I see him facing right with his elbow behind him, as if he were saying “Ha-HA!” The lion is there as well. He shares a tail with the camel. * * * “I must leave this planet, if only for an hour.” – Antoine de St. Exupéry Are you a turtle? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2000, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-cigarettes-and-the-subliminal-naked-man/9364/5 "2000-03-30T01:29:00Z")
It may be because of my orientation, but I had first seen the “naked guy” as a woman with enormous breasts. But since the erection was pointed out to me, I can switch back and forth, sometimes even seeing a man with enormous breasts. I have to go with an unfortunate optical illusion, like seeing figures in the clouds. (Johnny L.A.: You bet your sweet ass I am.) ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2000, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-cigarettes-and-the-subliminal-naked-man/9364/6 "2000-03-30T01:37:00Z")
Sigh. So I’m the only one that sees the alien and the Dallas Cowgirls. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2000, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-cigarettes-and-the-subliminal-naked-man/9364/7 "2000-03-30T01:48:00Z")
I don’t know about the actual pack of Camel cigarettes, but Joe Camel is a Penis Head. I mean it! Find the classic pose of Joe (where his nose is turned downward, slightly to the side, eyes looking up) and cover up his eyes. The nose and muzzle are the spitting image of a penis and scrotum. It’s so blatant I have a difficult time believing it’s accidental, but hey. I’m no conspiracy theorist. * * * Teaching: The ultimate birth control method. [Laura’s Stuff and Things](http://members.aol.com/lrconaway)