Burt’s Bees and Durham’s American Tobacco get an odd shout-out from Bad Bunny and SNL
Durham’s own skincare favorite Burt’s Bees made a cameo appearance on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend along with a realistic red-brick backdrop from its home on the American Tobacco Campus.
The sketch, titled “Enrique’s Daughter,” featured rapper and SNL host Bad Bunny in a cast of Burt’s Bees employees nervously plotting to keep their jobs after a fictional corporate buyout.
“Burt’s Bees is being acquired by Jergens, which is owned by Aveeno, which is owned by Yoplait,” explained SNL cast member Mikey Day, who portrayed the skincare CEO in job trouble.
Though the buyout was imaginary, it still struck a familiar chord with some Triangle viewers who recalled Clorox acquiring Burt’s Bees in 2017:
“That was a little too real,” posted a viewer on Reddit. “Whoever wrote that must have been there during the merger or close to it.”
The homegrown company with its folksy history took some gentle ribbing as cast members made a case against the pretend layoffs. Among the gags:
“Our company is beloved. We grind up bees and turn it into Chapstick. People love that.”
And:
“You came up with the foot scrub. You have to stay.”
The look of downtown Durham
But downtown Durham’s repurposed tobacco warehouses on national television made the greatest impression, at least on the Bullcity subreddit:
“It really looked like ATC,” wrote one viewer. “I was impressed somebody bothered with that detail.”
Burt’s Bees has not publicly commented on the sketch and could not be reached for this story.
But the company might be taking a low profile due to reviews.
Though Bad Bunny was well-received as a host for much of the show, the musician got only lukewarm rankings for his “Enrique’s Daughter” sketch — coming in at only no. 3 out of 5.
This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 12:39 PM with the headline "Burt’s Bees and Durham’s American Tobacco get an odd shout-out from Bad Bunny and SNL."