Be More Elmo

In January, beloved Sesame Street character Elmo wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Elmo is just checking in. How is everybody doing?” Immediately, responses started flooding in from brands, businesses, individuals, and even the President of the United States. The general consensus? There is too much going on in the world, and people are left feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Although the tone of the replies was generally humorous, they reflected a feeling of hopelessness that we’re seeing in increasing numbers of people. The tweet has now been seen over 218m times, with more than 20,000 replies.

This coordinated campaign looped in multichannel, and multi-character responses, with other iconic Sesame Street characters chiming in with their own opinions. Sesame Street’s main account followed up after the outpouring: “Thank you, @Elmo, for checking in with a reminder for us to pause and take a mindful moment to focus on how we’re feeling.” Their reply linked to mental health and emotional wellbeing resources.

So What?

Uncertainty has become our norm. In our Good Futures 2024 Trend Tarot, we described the opportunity (and need) for brands and organisations to help people navigate uncertainty: take a position in shifting waters to distract, reassure, embrace, or rise up against the chaos.

While Sesame Street, at first glance, a programme for kids, the simple, accessible language they use to talk about mental health opened up the conversation to a global, ageless audience. In their responses, we can see a mix of searing authenticity and humour. Just because you're tackling a dark topic, doesn't mean you can't inject some dark humour. Giving people the space to examine their feelings under the guise of a lighter interaction can help audiences open up further.

For Sesame Street, this is just the start of the conversation. They followed up this question with another post from Elmo in March (on Instagram this time), to check back in with kids and adults alike.

Sometimes, people just want to feel heard. Asking the question - and crucially, being ready to really listen and engage in the conversation - can make all the difference. Today, try to be more Elmo.