Bert and Ernie have shown up in an STD testing advertisement and the folks behind Sesame Street aren’t thrilled about it.
Earlier in May, the two roommates appeared in an ad for the STD testing kits company Mately. The duo were shown reading a letter with the caption “See Ernie, you’ve got nothing to worry about, everything is positive!” The ad is clearly suggesting that Bert and Ernie are reading over the results of an STD test, which isn’t appropriate given the fact the two are from a children’s show.
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While Bert and Ernie’s sexuality has been argued for years, putting them in an ad related to STD’s is wrong for multiple reasons. They shouldn’t be sexualized. Besides it being icky, a Sesame Street rep told TMZ that the use of the characters was unauthorized.
“The Mately ad is an unauthorized, unlicensed use of our characters,” a Sesame Street rep told TMZ. “We will be contacting Mately and the appropriate parties with a cease and desist letter instructing them to take this down.”
