They were advertised in comic books
humanoid-looking creatures that vaguely
resembled weird looking monkeys that
you ordered through the mail. When you
received them, you got a packet you
poured into to water and presto! they
hatched from dried eggs in the packet.
But instead of those humanoid-looking
creatures, you got brine shrimp. You
could say it was a rip off, but it was
still a lot of fun and worth the cost.
I write this from experience; I had
a bunch of Sea-Monkeys in the past.
Bob Boyd