Joe Camel - Hip party camel with no apparent hump first seen in 1988 in an R.J. Reynolds advertising campaign. In a series of glitzy colorful ads, Joe Camel hung out at hot nightspots, wearing shades, looking cool in fashionable clothing, and smoking, of course, Camel cigarettes. With the success of the campaign came charges from critics that R.J. Reynolds was purposely targeting minor boys-a charge that RJR denied. The successful Joe Camel campaign was finally dropped in July 1997.