Saturday Night Live has recently returned for its whopping 43rd season, after winning a slew of Emmy Awards at this year's ceremony. And while Ryan Gosling's season opener was strong, the most recent episode was hosted by Justice League and Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot. In addition to making waves for her make out session with Kate McKinnon, one of the most memorable sketches from this past week was SNL's take on the Safelight Repair commercials. The sketch saw one Safelight tech continually breaking and repairing a family's windshield, just so he could creepily attempt to connect with a 17 year girl. Safelight has now responded to the sketch, and it's clear that the company is royally pissed off at its representation.
Despite the visibility increase that Safelight no doubt got from the sketch, it's clear that the company has taken umbrage with Saturday Night Live's portrayal. After all, a creepy tech stalking an innocent family isn't the look they're hoping to show.
Saturday Night Live has always walked the line between acceptable and sick and twisted humor, so this sketch isn't terribly out of character. The writers often like to subvert otherwise squeaky clean companies, like Vanessa Bayer's recurring Totino's lady. Safelite's marketing often focuses on how accessible and family friendly the company is, with the promise to be able to replace windshields while you're at work, or in SNL's case a high school basketball game.
Of course, the subject matter of a grown man stalking and attempting to hit on a young girl isn't going to sit well with most. That's the joke that Saturday Night Live is attempting to make, although obviously this isn't the attention that Safelite would like.
For those who need a reminder, check out Saturday Night Live's controversial (but hilariously twisted) take on the Safelite commercials below.
While Safelite has attempted to distance itself from the recent Saturday Night Live sketch, it's unclear if the spoof will end up being a recurring one as Season 43 continues on. There's never a way to predict which bits Lorne Michaels and his team will bring back, but Safelite's response may actually add fuel to the fire.
Whenever bits go especially viral, they have a bigger chance to return at some point. Take Tom Hanks' David S. Pumpkins as an example. While the Oscar winner was reportedly less than thrilled about the sketch while in rehearsal, it ended up being Season 42's biggest non-political short. So depending on how viral the Safelite video and the company's response get, we could very well see Aidy Bryant's character in yet another crisis with the repair company.
Saturday Night Live airs weekly on NBC. In the meantime, check out our fall premiere list to plan your next binge watch.
