According to X’s metrics, Elmo’s question was seen more than 140 million times. Samantha Maltin, the executive vice president, chief marketing and brand officer of Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind “Sesame Street,” said that Elmo might not have been prepared for all the emotional fatigue shared in response.
“I don’t think anyone anticipated how deeply this particular question would resonate,” she said in an interview. “But we’re so thrilled that we did ask.”
Ms. Maltin thinks the overwhelming engagement with Elmo’s post points to a dire need for free, easy-to-access mental health resources, she added.
Social media accounts for Elmo, Big Bird, Grover and other “Sesame Street” characters are run by a four-person team at Sesame Workshop. (Big Bird’s account had an online spat with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in 2021 after posting about the Covid-19 vaccine.)
