Sesame Street is under fire for running McDonald’s sponsorship ads that air before and after the show.
Critics claim that the new sponsorships push high-calorie offerings at children during a time when childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions.
A coalition of health professionals, child advocates and obesity experts sent a letter Monday to Gary Knell, the president-CEO of Sesame Workshop, which produces Sesame Street, requesting that the television show halt airing “sponsorship messages” from McDonald’s Corp. The show airs on more than 300 public broadcast stations. The ads began Oct. 1. McDonald’s declined to comment on how long the sponsorship runs.
“It is understandable why McDonald’s would seek access to Sesame Street’s audience of impressionable young children,” the letter read in part. “Buy why you would deliver these children to the corporation is another question. Parents entrust their children to you because they believe you are trustworthy. We doubt that enticing kids with junk food is part of that trust.”
The letter was written and organized by Commercial Alert, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children from commercialism.
A written response from Knell was sent to Commercial Alert the same day. He said funding, like that received from the McDonald’s sponsorship, is critical to its efforts to continue to provide educational content to children.
“As you must know, PBS is non-commercial, and all corporate underwriters on public television must adhere to strict guidelines provided by PBS in order for their messages to air,” the letter read. “As such, the McDonald’s sponsorship messages do not show product, announce promotions, or contain any call to action, nor do any of our Sesame Street characters appear in them.”
The 15-second ad opens with a few clips from the Sesame Street show. Then a character that appears to be Ronald McDonald (you just see the big red clown shoes) waters a plant that quickly blooms as a child’s voiceover says “McDonald’s, proud sponsor of Sesame Street. Together helping imaginations grow.”
McDonald’s said that it is a strong supporter of literacy for children and that the workshop relies on public contributions and corporate underwriters to continue its work.
“By providing critical funding for their educational content, McDonald’s helps ensure that the Workshop’s great work can continue,” McDonald’s said in a statement.
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