Sarah does ‘SNL’

By Len Gutman on October 20th, 2008 In Hype!

Sarah Palin entered the mouth of the lion on Saturday with an appearance on Saturday Night Live, which as everyone in America knows has been making serious fun of her for weeks now. A good PR move by Ms. Palin?

 

CNN is surveying readers today and so far about 60 percent say it was “all in good fun” while 40 percent say it was a mistake. I have to admit I laughed, but Palin must have been cringing a tad when they brought out the costumed moose and shot it to death during Weekend Update.

I think this was a good PR move for Palin given her image problems. She came across as fun, and she has rhythm too — you go girl. Of course, there’s still no way in hell I’m going to vote for you!

Sarah does ‘SNL’

Comments

Stephanie Sheppard Says:
October 20th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

As a religious SNL viewer, I was highly anticipating Palin’s appearance – but I was so disappointed! She didn’t do anything on the show; she hardly said any words besides “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night.” Although I do think going on the show was a good PR move and showed that she doesn’t let SNL jokes bother her, I felt like it was a missed opportunity.

A skit of Palin impersonating Tina Fey in 30 Rock for example, would have been hilarious and driven the ratings through the roof. It seemed as if she wasn’t trusted to read any lines or make a splash.

Diane Wallace Says:
October 20th, 2008 at 2:36 pm

My own opinion is that it was truly funny stuff – the best SNL I’ve seen in a long time.

However, it would have been far more funny if it wasn’t so scary – her past television appearances (with the exception of one “debate”) were screaming disasters. What I’d have loved to see from this potential White House resident is a serious interview with a statment like “I don’t think those last interviews were representative of what I can do, so let’s do this for real…” followed by an intelligent conversation about some issues. If she had more of that sort of thing behind her I could have better stomached her appearance last night.

I thought this was a seriously misguided/misplaced-in-the-campaign attempt to show that she has a sense of humor and is a “real person”. We know that already – I’d have liked to see some real depth in her.

The entertainment was priceless, but not the best PR move, in my view.

Richard K Says:
October 20th, 2008 at 4:01 pm

Len, you missed the point. It wasn’t about Palin. It was about SNL ratings – and increasing ad rates. Highest viewership in 14 years.

This is marketing as differentiated from public relations.

Jim Veihdeffer Says:
October 24th, 2008 at 12:44 pm

I think it was a good move for Palin, albeit a last gasp of desperation. Clearly, it’s a risk going on SNL when they’ve been regularly making you a big girl’s blouse for the past few weeks. One can well imagine how the handlers huddled heatedly, debating the pro’s and con’s of such an appearance. In the end, the show and Palin did exactly the only thing they could — they didn’t try to make her funny…they let the professional humoristas do the funny business and portrayed her dilemma in a humorous context.

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