SilverWook said:

I actually got the finger as a present back in 1982. I blame the complete lack of Dark Crystal toys on the market for this. At least it was more screen accurate than some of the other E.T. toys back then. The official plush toys were hideous.

And apparently somebody thought it would be a good idea to revisit this with the whole hand!

I blame my nearly life-long, deep-seated hatred of yappy little dogs on my exposure to this thing on the silver screen at the tender age of four.