P&G has quietly fired Elmo and the Cookie Monster from making their guest appearances on two of three lines of Pampers diapers this past summer, according to the New York Post.
New parents changing their youngsters' diapers this year may have noticed beloved Sesame Street characters have been swapped out with generic patterns.
"We have heard a growing desire for variety within the Pampers diaper lines, so we recently introduced new colorful graphics on our Swaddlers and Cruisers diapers," Pampers spokeswoman Laura Dressman said. "This allows us to offer new designs across our entire portfolio."
Still, P&G officials stressed Sesame Street characters are still on the brand's popular Baby Dry line of diapers.
"As a proud partner of Sesame Street for over 15 years, we love featuring Sesame Street’s iconic characters on our Pampers Baby Dry diapers," Dressman said. "This includes Elmo, Zoe, Cookie, Rosita, Big Bird, and Oscar (the Grouch) among others."
Pampers is P&G's biggest-selling brand, generating more than $10 billion in annual sales, while the company generates a total of nearly $67 billion a year.