Last weekend’s season premiere of Saturday Night Live had more misses than hits, but at least it scored with a pre-taped spoof about everyone’s favorite pop-up seasonal retailer, Spirit Halloween. “Since 1983, Spirit Halloween has been helping our struggling communities by setting up shop in every vacant building in the country for six weeks and then bouncing,” said Heidi Gardner.
“And thanks to us,” added Michael Longfellow, “what used to be a condemned AutoZone where a murder happened is once again a thriving business where a murder happened.”
The fake commercial touted the holiday store’s other virtues: “Wigs that give you a rash, single-use fog machines and costumes of famous characters tweaked just enough to avoid a lawsuit.”
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Honestly, where’s the lie?
But just because SNL spoke the truth about Spirit Halloween doesn’t mean the company can’t be all in its feelings about it. Awwwww, you guys.
Spirit Halloween retweeted the sketch along with its own fake ad for an SNL Season 50 costume. The faux getup for an “irrelevant 50-year-old TV show” features “dated references, unknown cast members and shrinking ratings.” It took an extra shot with the post’s copy, letting the show know that “we are great at raising things back from the dead @nbcsnl.”
What’s the strategy here, Spirit Halloween? At first glance, it appears the company has no sense of humor about itself. And if the gag’s insults, like how the stores provide “six-week jobs for some of America’s hardest hit perverts,” really did leave a mark, then retweeting them amplifies the sketch for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.
Or maybe Spirit Halloween is savvier than we think. Throwing an online tantrum isn’t a great look but for what other reason — outside one of those murders — is Entertainment Weekly or the New York Post going to write about the holiday superstore? If you’re a believer in the “any publicity is good publicity” mantra, then some social media manager just made their year-end bonus.
The most likely explanation: Spirit Halloween is just being emo. That said, it does only have about four more weeks to cry about it before it lurches back to the retail graveyard for another year.