Spirit Halloween has taken to social media to slam Saturday Night Live as “irrelevant” after the sketch comedy series spoofed the costume retailer.
During a fake commercial featuring Heidi Gardner, Chloe Fineman and Michael Longfellow, SNL mocked America’s largest Halloween retailer
“Times may be good on Wall Street, but on Main Street, communities are struggling,” Gardner says in a voiceover that accompanies a montage of boarded up stores. “Closed stores, shuttered businesses, empty parking lots. … When hard times hit, it’s easy to feel like no one cares. But help is on the way.”
As the music picks up, Gardner continues: “When others leave, we show up. We don’t see a dead-end town.”
“We don’t see an abandoned Kmart,” Longfellow adds, with Fineman joining in. “We see a spirit, a Spirit Halloween.”
Gardner returns in character as community liaison Lauren Ashman. “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,” she says.
“And thanks to us, what used to be a condemned AutoZone where a murder happened is once again a thriving business … where a murder happened,” Longfellow quips.
Fineman then jumps in to claim the store is “providing vulnerable communities with the things they need most: wigs that give you a rash, single-use fog machines, and costumes of famous characters tweaked just enough to avoid a lawsuit.”
“But it’s not just empty buildings we’re investing in,” Gardner says. “It’s people. By creating six-week jobs for some of America’s hardest-hit perverts … And the best part is, we’re able to help struggling areas in real time by stocking, staffing and opening a new location in minutes.”
The segment wraps with a young girl inquiring if the store has a Taylor Swift costume. “You bet,” Fineman replies while handing her an outfit for “Blonde Woman Singing.”
“This isn’t Taylor Swift,” the girl says. “And neither are you,” Fineman replies with a smile.
“Spirit Halloween. When you need us, we’re here. For six weeks,” the threesome conclude. “Because on November 1, we’re gone. And all this junk will be in the dumpster.”
In response, Spirit Halloween took to social media to clap back at the late-night program with a dig of its own.
“We are great at raising things back from the dead @nbcsnl,” the company’s X page wrote captioning a photo of a costume for an “Irrelevant 50-Year Old TV Show” that includes “dated references,” “unknown cast members” and “shrinking ratings.”
The company’s response garnered over 394,000 views, with plenty of people supporting Spirit Halloween for firing back at SNL.
“Not gonna lie: this was funnier than many of the skits I have recently watched on SNL. And I say this as a longtime fan of the show who still enjoys it for the most part,” one person wrote, while another said, “Spirit Halloween has already put a deposit on 30 Rock on Saturdays at 11:30.”
“Wait, SNL is still on?? I thought that ended in the 90’s,” a third wrote.
With Emmy winner Jean Smart hosting alongside musical guest Jelly Roll, Season 50 of SNL is off to a strong start.
NBC said Monday that 5.3 million people watched the premiere live, the best opening for the show since 2020, when Alec Baldwin returned to his role as then-President Donald Trump and Chris Rock hosted with musical guest Megan Thee Stallion.
This past weekend, the show welcomed back several alums for its opening skit about this year’s U.S. presidential race, with Maya Rudolph playing Kamala Harris and Dana Carvey playing President Joe Biden.
Former cast member Andy Samberg returned to play Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, and standup comic Jim Gaffigan played Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz. Current cast member James Austin Johnson was back as Donald Trump, while Bowen Yang filled in as the Republican ticket’s VP pick, J.D. Vance.
SNL has a star-studded lineup set to host this month. Nate Bargatze is fronting this weekend’s SNL, with Coldplay appearing as the musical guest. Other guest hosts in the coming weeks include: Ariana Grande, Michael Keaton and John Mulaney.
NBC will air a three-hour live SNL celebration on Feb. 16 to officially mark its 50th anniversary.