“Saturday Night Live” recently featured a skit where a character named Monica, played by Ego Nwodim, appeared on “Weekend Update” to talk about her job as a happy Amazon employee delivering packages. The sketch included humorous lines about hooking up with an Amazon drone. However, the portrayal of Amazon offering benefits like a vest left out the fact that the company actually provides health-care benefits starting on the first day of employment. The skit also inaccurately referred to the Prime Day sale as a 48-hour event, when it actually takes place in the summer, possibly confusing it with a different sale called Prime Big Deal Days.
Amazon’s treatment of logistics employees, including warehouse workers and delivery drivers, has been a subject of scrutiny, with concerns raised by regulators, labor unions, and shareholders about warehouse injury rates. While Amazon has made efforts to improve workplace safety and raised hourly pay, there are still tensions over workload expectations for delivery service partners involved in delivering packages in Amazon-branded vans. The sketch on SNL did not accurately portray the complexities of Amazon’s operations, as the character Monica, a delivery driver, would not be considered an Amazon employee.
Despite some inaccuracies, SNL did touch on the potential concerns over overworking and inhumane conditions faced by Amazon employees. The character Monica playfully challenged the host Michael Che to stop ordering from Amazon if he believed the conditions were inhumane, leading Che to awkwardly end the interview. Amazon has been a frequent target for satire on SNL, with previous sketches making fun of Amazon Go stores, Echo voice speakers, and Jeff Bezos himself portrayed by Steve Carrell and Owen Wilson.
As a reporter who covers the company, the author notes that while the skit was humorous, it did not fully capture the reality of working at Amazon and the issues faced by employees. Despite the inaccuracies, the skit highlighted the ongoing debate about Amazon’s treatment of its workers, particularly those in logistics roles. Amazon’s efforts to address concerns about workplace safety and wages have been met with skepticism, and the tensions between the company, regulators, unions, and business owners involved in delivery services continue to be a point of contention. The author suggests that if SNL needs a fact-checker for future sketches about Amazon, they are available to provide more accurate information.
