PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — You survived the Dannemora prison break and all you got was a lousy shirt from eBay. Or Craigslist. Or maybe even the Clinton County Fair.

The 23-day saga that gripped the nation and effectively held several New York communities hostage throughout most of June has inspired an ironic cottage industry of souvenirs commemorating—or, in the minds of some, exploiting—one of the most covered news stories of 2015.

T-shirts, coffee mugs, even posters referencing the manhunt for convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat, who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y. on June 6, are being offered on eBay and various print-on-demand merchandise sites. 

Most feature the smiley face graphic and text found on the mocking note the pair left for authorities before making their escape.

At the Clinton County Fair, which ends Sunday, Plattsburgh residents Kenzie and Josh Jerome are selling white T-shirts featuring the image, a racially insensitive caricature of a Chinese coolie, a term for a 19th-century unskilled laborer.

Shown frequently in local, national and international news coverage of the prison break, the drawing is almost identical to one seen in a 2011 episode of the animated comedy TV show “Family Guy.” 

The Jeromes are also selling a black T-shirt featuring the inmates’ prison mugshots with the word “CAPTURED” placed beneath Sweat and “KILLED” beneath Matt, describing the fate of each. Matt was shot dead by a Vermont Border Control agent on June 26. Sweat was shot and captured two days later.

Both designs have sold well, Josh Jerome said.

Though reaction has been mixed, he said that most feedback has been positive.

“We’ve had a lot of law enforcement and corrections officers walking by and laughing at it,” he said.

However not everyone finds it amusing. 

“EXPLOITATION at it’s finest,” reads the first comment on a Plattsburgh Press-Republican story on the T-shirts. “I find it disgusting how people are making a buck off this situation…”

Josh said he respects that “some people sort of want to get past it.” But it isn’t affecting his business plan. 

The couple also plans to produce a shirt that reads “I survived the Dannemora Prison Break of 2015” and another bearing #ClintonStrong, the hashtag popularized during the manhunt as a way to show support to law enforcement. 

The Press Republican in Plattsburgh, New York, contributed to this story.