A spooky season staple took being the subject of a “Saturday Night Live” parody commercial in stride on Monday, Sept. 30. Spirit Halloween put out its own version of a popular meme to respond to the long-running sketch comedy show’s bit.
Media Landscape
See how news outlets across the political spectrum are covering this story. Learn more
Left 50%
Center 25%
Right 25%
Bias Distribution Powered by Ground News™
During its 50th season premiere the night of Saturday, Sept. 28, the NBC show aired a parody commercial which joked about the Halloween store “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.”
Point phone camera here
The comedy bit also referenced the retailer’s habit of taking over abandoned stores in strip malls, something the company’s website even references.
But Spirit had a joke of its own up its sleeve. Its official X account did a quote post of the sketch with the caption, “We are great at raising things back from the dead.” In the accompanying image, a mocked up costume package reads “Irrelevant 50-year-old TV show,” which includes: “Dated references, Unknown Cast Members, and shrinking ratings.”
Spirit Halloween stores started opening at the end of August, and this year, the company says there will be a total 1,525 Spirit Halloween stores featuring a special carnival theme.
Halloween spending is expected to reach a total of $11.6 billion this year according to the National Retail Federation. Candy accounts for $3.5 billion of that while costumes and decorations, Spirit’s bread and butter, account for $3.8 billion each.
Get up to speed on the stories leading the day every weekday morning. Sign up for the newsletter today!
By entering your email, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and acknowledge the Privacy Policy.
Spirit Halloween raked in $1.1 billion of that in revenue in 2023, according to employment recruiters Zippia. The store is owned and operated by Spencers, an equally puzzling mall staple that sells everything from lava lamps to lewd t-shirts, which brings in a reported $4.3 billion in revenue annually.
SNL just premiered it’s 50th season amid a contentious presidential election while this will be Spirit Halloween’s 41st season in operation.
Jack Aylmer
“We don’t see a dead end town. We don’t see an abandoned K-Mart. We see a Spirit. A Spirit Halloween.”
This past weekend, Saturday Night Live took a cheeky shot at Spirit Halloween, the spooky retailer that may have created the idea of a month-long pop-up.
“And costumes of famous characters, tweaked just enough to avoid a lawsuit.”
But spirit had jokes of its own playing off the popular meme referenced in the parody.
The official X account of Spirit Halloween did a quote post of the Sketch with the caption “We are great at raising things back from the dead.”
In the image there’s a costume package that reads “Irrelevant 50-year-old TV show,” which includes: “Dated references, Unknown Cast Members, and shrinking ratings.”
“Welcome to the Carnevil”
Spirit Halloween stores open at the end of the summer and take over spaces in “strip centers and malls across North America.”
Stores started opening at the end of August, and this year, the company says there will be a total 1,525 Spirit Halloween stores featuring a special carnival theme.
Halloween spending is expected to reach a total of $11.6 billion this year according to the National Retail Federation.
Candy accounts for $3.5 billion of that while Costumes and Decorations, Spirit’s bread and butter, account for $3.8 billion each.
Spirit is taking a big chunk of that too. Spirit raked in $1.1 billion in revenue in 2023 according to employment recruiters Zippia.
The store is owned and operated by Spencers, an equally puzzling mall staple that sells everything from lava lamps to lewd t-shirts, which brings in a reported $4.3 billion in revenue annually.
SNL just premiered it’s 50th season amid a contentious presidential election while this will be Spirit Halloween’s 41st season taking over empty circuit city locations.
Media Landscape
See how news outlets across the political spectrum are covering this story. Learn more
Left 50%
Center 25%
Right 25%
Bias Summary
- Fusce quis condimentum dolor sollicitudin justo odio bibendum mauris, porttitor turpis vestibulum ipsum dictum pulvinar sed, rutrum luctus urna ornare tellus auctor lobortis.
- Cursus potenti tortor risus imperdiet sollicitudin laoreet consectetur feugiat metus placerat, euismod curae sit molestie at ridiculus iaculis nostra cras.
Bias Comparison
The Left
vulputate lobortis ad suspendisse curabitur ullamcorper parturient penatibus venenatis convallis mi quisque a sem consectetur elementum turpis, lorem sagittis aptent neque ligula vitae laoreet eleifend porta accumsan dapibus pellentesque blandit fringilla.
The Center
ultrices semper vitae sem mi elit sollicitudin egestas vulputate condimentum maximus massa facilisi, volutpat cras dictumst ridiculus aliquam felis potenti integer viverra varius habitant.
Report an issue with this comparison
Bias Distribution
14 other sources covering this story
Total News Sources
14
Leaning Left
4
Center
2
Leaning Right
2
Last Updated
6 months ago
Bias Distribution Powered by Ground News™
Straight to your inbox.
By entering your email, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and acknowledge the Privacy Policy.
