HIV Testing Company Told to Cease and Desist Over Bert & Ernie Ad

The makers of at home HIV/STD testing kits landed themselves in hot water over an ad campaign featuring long-time bachelor roommates Bert and Ernie of "Sesame Street." A cease and desist letter to testing company Mately has been promised by the Sesame Workshop.

"The Mately ad is an unauthorized, unlicensed use of our characters," a spokesperson for Sesame Workshop told TMZ. "We will be contacting Mately and the appropriate parties with a cease and desist letter instructing them to take this down."

According to TMZ, Mately said there was no intent on their part to "tarnish the 'Sesame Street' brand."

Gay rumors have dogged Bert and Ernie for years. In 2013, following the United States Supreme Court's decision striking down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act, The New Yorker magazine featured the muppet pair snuggling on the sofa watching the 9 Supreme Court Justices on television.

In 2011, The Huffington Post reported that a petition was circulated urging the muppets to marry each other which prompted Sesame Street Workshop to post a statement on their Facebook page insisting that Bert and Ernie were just "best friends."

"Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets� do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation," the statement said.