How Can You Not Love Cookie Monster?

Image by The Mary Sue

In the 1990s, I was crazy about watching Sesame Street, a longtime favourite children and adult show. Big Bird led the entire show teaching children shapes, colours, numbers and more. Some other characters that were created were Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert, Grover, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog, Mr. Snuffleupagus (Whew! That was a bit hard to pronounce!), Two Headed Monster, Abby Cadabby and more.

Back in my home country, Philippines, there were only 2 main TV stations that were available at that time. One of the largest stations scheduled TV shows to make sure that family members don't have to fight over a show. Here's a typical schedule:

• Early Morning: Morning talk show
• Mid-morning: Educational shows for children
• Noon: Game Show
• Mid Afternoon: Soap Opera
• 4 pm: International Shows (i.e. Anime)
• 7 pm: Drama/Action/Comedy (local/international)

Sesame Street was usually being played during brunch hours, most particularly during 'recess' (a.k.a. break). I used to go to my friend's house every day since she used to live beside my school. We watched Sesame Street almost every day. The show became a part of me when I was a child.

Competition and technological advancement led to an opportunity for TV stations to expand or modify their shows. One of the shows that were being sacrificed was Sesame Street. And I believe that the same scenario happened in all the parts of the world. I haven't seen Sesame Street show for a while. However, there are lots of Sesame Street toys that are sold in-store nowadays. As a matter of fact, my nephew used to have Elmo stuffed toy where you can press a button so you can hear "Elmo's World" opening song (below).

After a long time of not seeing Sesame Street characters, I found an article yesterday on Adweek website showcasing a new Apple ad. When I saw Cookie Monster, I got so excited! When I played the video (see below), I remembered all the memories that I had when I was a child. I was ecstatic! 

I thought this ad was clever. When I heard the song Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce, I giggled. I grew up listening to classic songs from 60s-90s. One great thing about this commercial, too, was the humour that was used to communicate the message like when he was turning the lights on and off while listening to the song, checking the oven from outside and sighing all the time. Cookie Monster reminded me so much of myself being impatient. Honestly, I can watch the ad over and over again. I will never be tired of watching it.I think the ad was targeted to millennials like myself. Millennials who spent their childhood watching children's show like Sesame Street. Apple aimed to let us know about iPhone's hands-free feature. The video was posted last week and it now has more than 4 million views. Great job, Apple!