How does a political candidate air a campaign commercial during Saturday Night Live? If it is too serious, it goes against the mood of the target audience. However, if the commercial tries to be funny but is lame, it would be subject to understandable mockery. Well, Senator Ted Cruz went all out with a humorous commercial to air during SNL tonight. It is a satirical takeoff on his reading of a Dr. Seuss story on the floor of the Senate while pulling an all nighter to speak against Obamacare. I think the commercial came off as good (or better) as most SNL skits but watch below and judge for yourself.
The Independent Journal Review provided some background about the commercial:
Hope you’re ready for a campy Ted Cruz Christmas parody meets infomercial meets sanctioned campaign ad. The Texas Senator and 2016 presidential candidate will play the above ad in crucial Iowa TV markets during this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” broadcast, according to Cruz Press Secretary Catherine Frazier.
Cruz is no stranger to non-traditional campaigning, he has cooked bacon on the end of a machine gun and performed full-throated “Princess Bride” impressions on the trail in 2016. The above video features Cruz reading to his two daughters, along with his wife, in a traditional Christmas setting. However, the Christmas tales he tells are political satire.
Judging from many of the readers' comments on YouTube, others found the commercial to be funny as well:
Hey, it's no secret, I'm going for Marco Rubio; but ya gotta give credit where credit is due. Ted Cruz gets all the credit, or at least a good portion of it, for making this video because it's great!
The Grinch Who Lost Her Emails made me snort my coffee.
EXCELLENT! Kudos to Ted and his family. His daughter has some acting chops
Exit question: How many SNL skits tonight will this Ted Cruz commercial beat in the humor department?
