“Sesame Street” says the company that used ‘Bert and Ernie’ to sell home HIV/STD testing kits did not have permission and must stop using the characters immediately.
On Mately’s website, the Sesame Street duo is seen saying “See Ernie, you’ve got nothing to worry about, everything is positive,” according to TMZ.
Underneath a picture of the pair is the company logo with the words that read, “Help us take STD testing out of the stone age.”
“The Mately ad is an unauthorized, unlicensed use of our characters,” a Sesame Street spokesperson told the outlet. “We will be contacting Mately and the appropriate parties with a cease and desist letter instructing them to take this down.”
The home HIV/STD testing company got the word and has since removed all the images of Bert and Ernie from their site.
This is not the first time the roomies have created a stir. A few years back Sesame Street dealt with and stopped rumors of the two friends being a gay couple.