Ad Watch, SNL Skit

Saturday Night Live has long been known for its political satire, and this spoof on Hillary Clinton’s “3 a.m. phone call” campaign ad is no exception. While the ad is clearly meant to be humorous and entertaining, it does contain some underlying messages about Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the Democratic race in general. This skit aired on March 8, 2008, on NBC, and is currently available for viewing on the NBC Web site.

The skit begins with SNL comedian Amy Poehler, dressed conservatively in a pantsuit like Hillary Clinton and sitting at a regal-looking desk, saying, “I’m Hillary Clinton and I approve this unfair and deceptive message.” That sentence alone sums up the entire point of the spoof – conveying the message that campaign ads are often ruthless and fail to focus on the issues that matter.

Next, black frames with white text and a narration by “Hillary” inform us that while the election is about change, it is also about experience. From there, the narrator switches to a man with an ominous-sounding voice, and the skit closely mimics Clinton’s real campaign ad, with images of the nation’s capitol at night and children sleeping snugly in their beds.

The skit soon changes, however, as soon as the phone starts ringing. Instead of Hillary answering the phone in the White House, she gets a call from the White House, with “President Obama” on the other line begging for help. When we finally see her on the phone, she is sitting up in bed in her nightgown, with her face covered in cold cream and rollers in her hair. This image of Hillary is an obvious jab at Clinton’s actual campaign ad, where she answers the phone at 3 a.m. still wearing her typical pantsuit.

What follows is a humorous dialogue between Hillary and President Obama. Obama is depicted as an inexperienced, bumbling, helpless incompetent who regularly begs Hillary for help. He panics, he takes notes, he smokes cigarettes, cusses and in general acts like a stereotypical frat boy. Hillary, in contrast, is shown as a cool, collected motherly type who tells Obama to “man up, calm down and listen.” The hair rollers and nightgown add to her mom-like image. The skit wraps up with a wise-crack about Bill Clinton’s perceived continual infidelity.

This dialogue is simply narration over still frames, shot in black-and-white with dramatic music playing in the background and “dramatization” flashing periodically at the bottom of the screen. Part of the skit’s humor value is how closely it mimics and exaggerates a typical campaign “bash” ad. The black-and-white frames combined with the music create a sense of emergency and add to the drama of the skit. The still frames actually make the skit more humorous, as the audience is able to focus on one still image of the actor using a ridiculous pose or facial expression at a time.

On its face, the skit makes the claim that perhaps Clinton really does have the experience to run the White House, but also that perhaps experience doesn’t matter quite as much as Clinton claimed. The skit also makes the claim that campaign ads are often pretty silly and don’t focus on real issues (in the skit, Poehler, as Hillary, calls them “specious campaign talking points”). Finally, the skit implies that maybe Clinton should give up her end of the campaign and cede the Democratic nomination to Obama when, at the end, Hillary urges the public to write to the Democratic National Committee and say “Wait, we’ve changed our minds.” Of course, all of these claims are based in opinion, not hard facts, so it is difficult whether anything was taken out of context.

Using a Potter’s box, it is obvious that the number one value of this skit is to make the audience laugh and therefore, keep viewers tuned into the program. By the nature of its programming, humor is almost always the top priority of SNL. In this skit, though, there is also the value of conveying a more meaningful message to the public – that by focusing on experience, Clinton was dodging the discussion of real issues in her campaign and was taking sort of a cheap shot at Obama.

If we look at Kant’s Categorical Imperative, SNL is using both Clinton and Obama as a means to an end. By making fun of both politicians, SNL has fulfilled its value of humor, and thus, retaining viewership, as well as its message value. Plus, there is no way SNL could have poked fun of an average Joe off the street in the same manner without risking slander, so there is no way that SNL’s actions could apply to everyone. However, Bok, as well as most media professionals, claims that since politicians are public officials they have thrust themselves into the spotlight and opened themselves up for such scrutiny. In fact, Bok says that it is healthy and ethical for the public to be able to have an open discourse about their future leaders. In that sense, SNL has done a good job. On the other hand, Bok makes a very specific point that an official’s personal life, unless it is an abuse of power, does not need to be open for public inspection. While Bill Clinton may have abused his power in the White House by having an affair with an intern, his actions should not be a reflection of Hillary’s. SNL was acting unethically by adding the joke about Bill’s perceived infidelity into its skit for the sake of humor.

To its credit, though, SNL has invited both Clinton and Obama onto the show to give them the opportunity to show their real selves. Both have jumped on the chance and made appearances.

In terms of public good, I think that SNL’s skit is ethical. It is entertaining and makes us laugh, but more importantly, it is functioning as a means of open discourse about two potential leaders of our country. If humor is what gets people thinking and talking about the presidential campaign, then so be it. In terms of the politicians, though, SNL trod rather roughly over them both, even if the politicians put themselves in that situation. But, SNL is sticking by its value of humor, and we have to admit – sometimes a little unethical behavior can be pretty darn funny.

To view the SNL skit, go here:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=227156

(Warning: There is a lot of “implied” profanity…it is bleeped, but may offend some viewers.)

Here is the actual 3 a.m. phone call campaign ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XpaK-cGO9U

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