Seriously, Sesame Workshop? Where are your lawyers?

[Oscarfan]

I've walked straight past them without any issue. But, that's probably because I'm not a 6 year old.

But those guys with the hip-hop albums, you leave them alone.

 

[MrBloogarFoobly]

I once witnessed a man in an Elmo costume fighting with another mascot. "YOU WANT SOME OF DIS? WELCOME TO ELMO'S WORLD OF PAIN." It was the best thing ever, but I also felt bad for the little kids watching.

 

[Bridget]

Wow that's really crazy...

 

[MrBloogarFoobly]

On one hand, I would be really disgruntled and angry if I spent all day in a suit, not being paid much, in the NYC heat. Still, people, have standards!

 

[Drtooth]

On one hand, I would be really disgruntled and angry if I spent all day in a suit, not being paid much, in the NYC heat. Still, people, have standards!

No no no.

They aren't getting paid at all, which is why they charge for photos to tourists. It's the way that they make money. They're aggressive because they really want/need it badly. I'd love to be more sympathetic towards them, but it seems quite a lot of them are very ill mannered. The job market sucks. No matter who's in charge and what gets done, the job market will continue to suck mainly due to stupid little naggy bits and institutional stupidity. That's the only reason these guys are out there. They can't really find anything else. But they have no right to be that insanely aggressive, violent even, to get that money. And, well... we have no idea who's in those suits. Could be a down on his luck father trying to feed his family, but it also could be any number of unsavory things. They could be pedophiles or drug addicts for all we know. Schrodinger's Cookie Monster.

But as Herald wisely pointed out... it's not Disney World. I can't tell if they're self employed or owned by some unsavory group of some sort... they don't have the rigorous standards of an Amusement/Theme Park, where, if someone in one of the costumes does anything, the whole park looks bad and the guy can get fired. You can't even talk in costume. There's a reason why Disney is that protective of their walk-a-rounds that they incinerate unused/damaged/old costumes.

 

[mimitchi33]

Really. They go after people who post their videos on youtube, but not this?

Yet another one of the completely illegal Walk-a-Bout costume of one of their characters (Cookie Monster) got in trouble, this time injuring a child because the father had to get money to pay for one of these thugs who force you to take pictures. I don't have a link, since it was on actual TV news. But seriously? I've heard these guys are a menace. Sure, I can respect that there's no work out there... but how come these entertainment companies, who are absurdly protective of their copyrights, let these costumed brutes harass tourists?

I'm sure these guys aren't all jerks, but all it takes is one to spoil it for everyone. Still... we are talking about the same entertainment industry that wanted to sue a Grandma because her grandkid illegally downloaded one song, right?

My local radio station did a song parody about this called "C is for Crackpipe" yesterday. It was really funny!
Also, my sister first told me about this because she heard about it on a radio show. I first heard of the Elmo incident a few weeks ago while watching one of SuperGodzilla's "Sam Rants" videos (he showed the clip and told that he wanted to trust him because he encouraged kids to crap hands, refering to that Japanese "Rocking Elmo" doll.)
On the illegal matter side of things, people do these all the time. (I go to NYC a lot, and see a ton of Cookie Monsters, Elmos, Mickeys, Minnies and SpongeBobs like this.) The only time I've ever heard of people getting in trouble for illegal costumes besides those incidents was during the Barney craze. The Barney Fan Club sent a flyer to it's members warning of imitators, and a show at a theater had to be shut down after it was found out that the show was actually not a real Barney one, but one with a bootleg Barney costume character. Maybe Sesame Workshop should banish these bootlegs like the Barney club once did.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Ever wonder where those Elmos come from?

 

[Drtooth]

DC and Marvel (and I'm guessing, by extension Disney)went after these kinds of places.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Don't they kinda accost you and almost force you to take pictures? Sounds like they're kind of hard to avoid.

I admit I've never seen anyone actually get pushy. Like I said it's mainly the foolish parents letting their kids run up to them.

 

[mr3urious]

It seems like the New York City Council is finally doing something about these people.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...council-targets-time-square-article-1.1312161