Turns Out You Can't Just Use Bert and Ernie in Your STD Awareness Campaign

By Clover Hope  |  May 4, 2016 | 2:05pm
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The makers of Sesame Street, understandably, have threatened to send a cease and desist letter to a company for featuring Bert and Ernie in STD awareness ads.

The chummy duo is the subject of an ad (pictured above) for Mately, which sells at-home kits for HIV and STD testing. Sesame Street takes issue with this unauthorized use of the puppets’ likeness in a campaign that associates Bert and Ernie with STDs.

A Sesame rep told TMZ, “The Mately ad is an unauthorized, unlicensed use of our characters. We will be contacting Mately and the appropriate parties with a cease and desist letter instructing them to take this down.”

Mately has since responded:

Mately got the message loud and clear — it’s removed all Bert and Ernie images from its site and says there was no intent to “tarnish the Sesame Street brand.”

Sesame Street has already had to clarify that Bert and Ernie are not gay ad “do not have a sexual orientation.”

Image via TMZ/Facebook

 
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