Obama's Big Bird Ad Hits Mitt Romney as Soft on Wall Street (Video)

President Obama is turning to Big Bird to help him chase the clouds away.

our editor recommends

It's Official: Big Bird Was the Star of the First Presidential Debate (Video)

'Big Bird' Responds to Mitt Romney; GOP-PBS Friction Continues

Though Mitt Romney was judged overwhelmingly to have won last week's debate, his mention of Big Bird, in the context of cutting federal funding for PBS, drew some guffaws, and gave the Obama campaign something to cling to as it looked to climb back from the knock down. After mentioning Big Bird in various speeches over the weekend, the president and his team have taken the next step: featuring the big yellow childhood favorite in an attack ad.

Soon after its release, Sesame Workshop requested that the Obama campaign take down the ad.

"Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns," it said in a statement. "We have approved no campaign ads, and as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down."

STORY: Big Bird Makes an Appearance on SNL

With a mocking tone, the ad paints the bird as an evil titan of Wall Street, in the process taking a shot at Romney's long career in finance.

In a release that came with the ad, the campaign writes, "Even on issues as seemingly simple as 8-foot tall talking birds and early childhood education, Mitt Romney’s rhetoric is out of touch with the facts. When asked how he would cut the deficit, Romney’s answer is to eliminate PBS and Sesame Street – an absurd solution. You would need to cut PBS more than 1,000 times to fill the hole in Romney’s budget promises!"

PBS executives struck back at Romney following the debate, as well, with CEO Paula Kerger saying that she was stunned by the GOP candidate's remarks.