![]() “Search ‘Amazon Go store Black man trapped.’” And rather than skewering and upending stereotypes, as sketches such as “Mid-Day News” and “Black Jeopardy” preferred, the comedy punched up, highlighting Amazon’s shortsightedness-and the larger inequities that would make its high-tech retail experience far from a simple “grab-and-go” for Black consumers. “Alexa!” Redd shouted as he wandered the aisles. The show’s fake commercials tend to excel when they suddenly (and absurdly) eschew expectations or defy them from the very start, like previous standouts “ Totino’s” and “ Wells for Boys.” Instead, “Amazon Go” adhered to its product premise, building to a climax that anticipated a Jordan Peele–esque horror twist. The bit was one of SNL’s most realized of the season. “I have decided to get a different sandwich today.” ![]() “Uh, okay, I am putting the sandwich back, y’all,” he shouted across the store. While a white shopper (Chloe Fineman) obliviously changed her mind about a box of cereal without any fanfare, a Black shopper (Chris Redd) called outsize attention to his reversal. ![]() “Nice try,” he said before walking away from the item he’d been considering.Īmazon Go doesn’t charge customers for items they put back on the shelf, and the commercial played on all the ways that decision could go wrong for some buyers. But unlike his fellow white shoppers, Thompson remained dubious. The commercial’s voice-over artist (Cecily Strong) reassured him that he could. “You want me to just take something and walk out?” asked a Black businessman (played by Kenan Thompson). The show’s fake commercial for Amazon Go illustrated the disparity that white and Black consumers might experience in a store promoting freedom but mired by surveillance. Saturday Night Live picked up on that problem during last night’s episode, delivering incisive commentary reminiscent of its excellent “ Mid-Day News” and “ Black Jeopardy” sketches. If that sounds like shoplifting, it apparently feels like it too. The stores are equipped with the company’s proprietary Just Walk Out technology, which combines a nebulous mix of “computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion” shoppers scan their Amazon app to enter, grab what they want to purchase, and … leave. Amazon Go stores are touted as a futuristic shopping experience promising unfettered ease and speed.
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