SNL hilariously takes on Amazon Go

The standout sketch from this week’s Saturday Night Live, which was hosted by The Batman star Zoë Kravitz and featured musical guest Rosalía, is, as I said in my review of the episode, “an instant classic destined for the compilations.” It’s also one of SNL’s best commercial parodies in recent memory, an ad for Amazon Go, the online monolith’s chain of convenience stores where you can just scan your ID at the entrance, pick out your desired items, then walk out without interacting with a register or other payment apparatus. What you choose is just automatically billed to your Amazon account. Simple enough, right?

“Just grab what you want, put it in your bag, and walk out!” the commercial voiceover says brightly.

Unfortunately, one demographic may have an understandable issue with this policy.

“Oh, you want me to just take something and walk out?” asks a character played by Kenan Thompson. “Nah, son.”

“But it’s so convenient!” the voiceover argues—again, brightly.

“Nice try,” counters Thompson.

The announcer explains that this innovation is possible because of artificial intelligence and sensor technology.

“So where do you pay?” says a matronly type played by Punkie Johnson.

“You don’t!” the announcer perkily responds.

“No, I do. I always pay! Who do you think I am?” proclaims Johnson.

Meanwhile, a young woman (Kravitz) has her boyfriend (Andrew Dismukes) grab her favorite kombucha off the shelf. “I’m learning,” he says.

“Go ahead,” the voiceover prods a reluctant Kenan Thompson. “Leave. Just walk out.” In the end, he exits holding his bag of chips and cash in the air, insisting on leaving behind a few bucks (a “tip,” he calls it).

The show boasted some other highlights, too, like a cold open on the Russia/Ukraine conflict and a game show gone wrong.