Topps and Upper Deck both have included cards of this year's presidential candidates in their flagship baseball products for 2008. Both did so primarily to attract some additional attention to their products, and both are doing just that, thanks once again to a little help from their in-house pranksters.

Topps' presidential candidate cards feature traditional photos of the candidates and some text on the backs. The card that's generating the most attention, however, is not from this insert. It's a card from the base set depicting the Red Sox on-field celebration after last year's World Series title. An image of former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani has been added to the card, seemingly joining the Red Sox for the celebration (pictured below). It's similar in nature to last year's card of Derek Jeter that featured computer-generated images of Mickey Mantle and President Bush in the background. Topps said its creative team "thought it would make for a funny card" to have Guililani pictured with the Red Sox.

Meanwhile, Upper Deck's Presidential Predictor cards are generating attention for two reasons. The artwork used on the parody cards is somewhat humorous, tying the candidates into a memorable baseball-related scene or character. What's generating the most news, however, is the card of Hillary Clinton (pictured below), which depicts her as "Morganna The Kissing Bandit," the well-endowed woman who made a name for herself in the late 1970s and '80s by running onto the field at games and planting a kiss on the cheek of famous players.

Upper Deck says that after showing the cards to some focus groups, it realized the card might be considered inappropriate by some and the decision was made to remove the card from Series One. However, an unknown quantity of the cards made it into packs and are now selling for several hundred dollars on eBay. That fact alone will certainly spark some additional sales of UD Baseball packs.

Last year, the Topps Jeter/Mantle/Bush card (Topps first said the cards were created by "mistake," then said they let the card go to create some attention) and Upper Deck's Michael Eisner parody card made news and sent pack buyers into a frenzy, hoping to find these novelty items. This year, it appears the baseball card companies are hoping the "giggle factor" helps them sell a few more packs and create some national attention.

I'm all for publicity and adding a few more stories to the hobby's lore, but I hope the card companies are sensitive to the idea that this kind of humor can wear off in a hurry, especially if the media and/or general public begins to look at these as nothing more than contrived collectibles.