Gov. Gavin Newsom recently unveiled a new PSA partnership on back-to-school safety with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind “Sesame Street,” and facilitated by the Skoll Foundation and Participant, with the first PSA featuring Elmo. The new PSAs build on California’s “Your Actions Saves Lives” COVID-19 public awareness and education campaign.
As part of Sesame Workshop’s #CaringForEachOther initiative to support families during the COVID-19 pandemic, the three new English- and Spanish-language PSAs feature the lovable Sesame Street Muppets promoting best practices for kids and families during the pandemic, including how to properly wear a mask, physically distance, wash hands, and navigate the hybrid learning environment many California kids are experiencing this Fall.
“As parents, we tell our kids all the time about the importance of washing hands, staying six feet apart and wearing masks, but it just might register differently if those messages come from Elmo,” said Newsom. “With parents and kids preparing for back to school – many through distance learning – it’s critical that we use messengers kids feel comfortable with to share important health tips about COVID, while also providing them assurances during this unique time that they aren’t alone.”
“The messenger is equally as important as the message,” said Lindsey Spindle, president of The Jeff Skoll Group. “In these new PSAs, the iconic Elmo, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, and Elmo’s dad Louie help children understand how to stay safe in and out of school during the pandemic by practicing social distancing, hand-washing, and mask-wearing. On behalf of Jeff Skoll and our dedicated teams at the Skoll Foundation and Participant, we are proud to partner with the state of California, Governor Newsom and Sesame Workshop to creatively emphasize that we all have roles to play in curbing the spread of this virus, and that it can be done when we work together.”
The state has launched a number of public awareness campaigns during the pandemic to promote critical public health messaging in Californ ia’s diverse communities. Featured PSAs highlight the dangers of social gatherings during the pandemic; promote the “Wear A Mask” campaign and California Connected, the state’s contact tracing program; encourage Californians to “Stay home. Save lives”; and highlight actions we can all take to help slow the spread of the virus. Celebrities also stepped up by filming short social media PSAs to help the state
