A Saturday Night Live sketch comparing obsessively browsing Zillow to phone sex has generated a lot of attention online — including from the company’s CEO, Rich Barton.
Hosted by Schitt’s Creek actor Dan Levy, the latest SNL episode included a sketch spoofing the pandemic-era trend of obsessively browsing listings of beautiful homes without any intention of buying.
“Are you bored? Looking for something to spice up your life?” starts the voiceover for the video as images of Levy and members of SNL‘s cast in mock seductive poses flash across the screen. “You used to want sex, but you’re in your late 30s now… You need Zillow.”
Zillow listings then flash across the screen, described by the browsers as a “an updated Colonial with mature landscaping” and a “guest house with its own little kitchen.”
“I’d never live in North Carolina, but if I did, I could buy a big, gross mansion,” Levy says.
Given how many have taken up browsing Zillow listings, the sketch was very well-received online, drawing praise from both public figures and everyday people.
“We may be a divided country but I think most of us can at least agree that the Zillow sketch on SNL hit way too close to home tonight,” MSNBC host Joy Reid wrote on Twitter.
The sketch even caught the eye of Zillow CEO Rich Barton, who wondered whether they have been “marketing @zillow wrong all these years???”