Sesame Street was a great show but now a days Sponge Bob and other shows have gotten more popular with the children. I know alot of kids and most don't even know who elmo is. My answer is no but if Sponge Bob or Dora did it there might be a better imput on children although I personally don't care for either of them.
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I think it would work for kids from 6 and below perhaps, the ages who are amused of Elmo. Kids follow whatever they see on things they idolizes as well as from people who are older than them.

It's still best if parents will teach these stuff to their kids.
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I think Elmo may have 'some' influence on children and hopefully help them to remember to cover their nose when they sneeze or mouth when they cough. For the most part, however, kids are gonna be kids and do what kids do which does not include manners for their peers around them.

Kids don't think about the germs that are on their hands and will probably not think to wash them unless told by an adult. Just because Elmo told them it's a good idea to do so doesn't mean they are going to get any less lazy and do it.

Just as if Elmo were to tell kids to clean their rooms every day doesn't mean it's going to happen....

It is certainly worth the effort, however, by the producers to put out a helpful message using Elmo to try and teach kids the right thing to do. If even one kid can learn a positive hygienic lesson from a PSA then it's very well worth it.
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Hopefully.

But I remember how it was avec moi, when in the first grade the teacher was trying to get us to do things like that, and I went home, told my folks about it when they asked the ol' "what did you learn at school today", whereupon dad pulled a couple of his books off the shelf and flipped to pages of pictures of bacteria, and then to pages with photos of people suffering from serious diseases and infections.

That got me thinking, but it might have been a tad too blunt, because for the rest of elementary school, up until puberty wherein I *wanted* to do some exchanging of bodily fluids, I got a reputation for being something of a snoot over how he'd always get on the cases of classmates who'd do things like lick each-other's lollypops.

It's not like I was paranoid or having nightmares... it just super-annoyed me that kids my own age would be so dumb, and it annoyed the other kids that I would always remind them.

Still... best of luck to Elmo. Whatever works.
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I think its an excellent idea.... and its certainly not the first time its been done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVWrgUaSpwY

Last year the Wiggles did a special song for global handwashing day (oct 15)

http://www.thewiggles.com.au/download/news/image/unicef_wiggles.jpg
-----quote-----
Every day, approximately 5,000 children die as a result of waterborne diseases. Washing hands with soap before eating and after using the toilet can help reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal diseases by almost 50 per cent.
----quote----

---quote---
Global Handwashing Day is an initiative of the Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing, which is spearheaded by UNICEF, USAID, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Bank Water and Sanitation Programme, Unilever and Procter & Gamble.
----quote----

Theres no doubt that the likes of the Wiggles and Elmo are positive roll models to the under 5s. My 2 year old loves fruit salad (because the wiggles do). If her 'heroes' lead by example then she'll want to emulate them.

Thats not to say that children should be raised by TV figures, as parents we have a responsibility too. And the fact that sometimes we are reminded by elmo to encourage hand washing is probably no bad idea.

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/australia_45881.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/14/2390496.htm
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