One of the staple components of Sesame Street over the last 50 years is the short, animated segments that periodically interrupt the narratives and focus on brief educational and literacy concepts. Histories of the show have recognized these segments and referred to them as commercials, but to date, literature lacks a comprehensive examination of the managerial forces involved in planning and producing these commercial segments to identify the depth of understanding Children’s Television Workshop (CTW) possessed as they created this material. Even more intriguing, contemporary literature has identified conceptual overlaps between the components of successfully persuasive children’s advertisements and successful strategies for teaching early childhood literacy. This study uses a historical analysis and primary evidence, from corporate and executives’ personal archives, to identify and chronicle how CTW married literacy education and advertising to effectively “sell” literacy to child viewers of Sesame Street. This study also identifies important implications and opportunities for research and the future promotion and presentation of educational concepts in contemporary digital media settings.

芝麻街的主要组成部分之一在过去的50年中，短暂的动画片段会定期打断叙述，并专注于简短的教育和识字概念。该节目的历史已经认识到了这些细分市场，并将其称为商业广告，但迄今为止，文献还没有全面审查参与策划和制作这些商业细分的管理力量，以确认对儿童电视工作室（CTW）的理解程度。他们创造了这种材料。更令人着迷的是，当代文学发现成功说服儿童的广告内容与教授幼儿识字率的成功策略之间存在概念上的重叠。这项研究使用了历史分析和主要证据，这些证据来自公司和高管的个人档案，芝麻街。这项研究还确定了在当代数字媒体环境中进行研究以及未来教育概念的推广和展示的重要意义和机遇。