Kids love...Marzipan? An ad trying to make Marzipan happen enlists a group of strange British children to try and sell the treat and in Austin Butler's frankly great episode hosting Saturday Night Live, this is one of the stranger sketches. The concept is simply just a bunch of kids trying to convince us that Marzipan is good. For those who don't know, Marzipan is just sugar, honey, and almond meal all put together, so it is a treat that tastes like nuts and that's about it. Not that it is a bad thing but in the sketch, when Kenan Thompson compared it to a plethora of chocolate treats in the beginning and called Marzipan the best option, we were immediately reminded we were watching a comedy show.
Thompson is leading the charge of the commercial where Butler, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, Sarah Sherman, and Bowen Yang all share their love for the treat in a manner that is quite frankly concerning. This is mainly because Yang can barely speak about his love for Marzipan and resorts to screaming whenever he was asked a question about it and why it was so good.
The ad parody in the sketch evokes The Sound of Music nostalgia as it asks the question no comedy show has dared to ask before: what if Captain Von Trapp made his kids push Marzipan instead of singing at dinner parties?
The sketch's hilarity comes from its simplicity; the cast simply performs a song and share how much they love Marzipan. Which, again, is just almond meal, sugar, and honey mixed together. The sketch excels thanks to the cast's stage presence and incredible dynamic, as well as the simply absurd lines they have to deliver with near-straight faces and, quite frankly, believable earnestness. Butler's line, "If a stranger said to me, come in my car, I've got candy; I'd say no. But if they said I have Marzipan, I'd say abduct me baby," serves as a testament to how absurd a sketch about Marzipan can get; but it also leaves us worried that Butler may actually follow a stranger promising the sweet.
During the sketch, Thompson also advises viewers not to eat Marzipan "within 12 hours of going to sleep or after 12 hours of waking up." We're no experts, but it is safe to say this is probably not the best commercial for Marzipan. We know a cautionary tale when we see one.
Check out the strangely hilarious Marzipan sketch below: