Raising Cane's Long Drive-Thru Lines Inspire Hilarious 'SNL' Sketch

By Michael Hein

This weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live featured a parody ad for a car dealership that turned into a fierce diatribe against the fast food restaurant Raising Cane's. Cast members Andrew Dismukes and Austin Johnson starred as the King brothers of the fictional Kings Brothers Toyota dealership, with help from their star salesman, host Michael B. Jordan. While promoting their "Overstock Sale-a-Thon," they warned customers about the traffic at Raising Cane's.

Dismukes, Johnson and Jordan starred in one of the most over-the-top sketches of the night, though as far as car dealership commercials go the tone is practically spot-on. The two gregarious brothers urged fans to come down to their dealership and take advantage of their incredible sale prices on all Toyota models. The only catch was their highly specific traffic directions as they warned fans to avoid the extra long line for Raising Cane's.

"Get your butt down here off highway 8, exit 260, take the left lane!" Johnson said. Dismukes emphasized: "You gotta get hard in that left lane, because if you stay even one second in the right lane, you'll get stuck in the massive overflow line for the new Raising Cane's." Johnson went on: "This restaurant is prohibitively popular, y'all!"

As their ad went on, it became clear that the fast food line has become an all-consuming concern for these brothers. It prevented customers from reaching their dealership – the reason for their overstock in the first place – and it had driven their sales "deep into the red."

When Jordan took the stage, he took drastic measures against the restaurant, threatening them to shut down entirely or else "each hour I will reveal to the public one ingredient to the secret recipe of your legendary Cane's Sauce."

After that, things got personal as the brothers listed some of the family events they had missed out on due to the traffic around their workplace. The duo extended their fury beyond the restaurant itself and onto the fictional city councilman who approved the drive-thru next door, to the delight of the live audience.

Raising Cane's was founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1996 and has grown into a sensation wherever it opens new locations. While it is not widely available all over the U.S., it has extended internationally – particularly in the Middle East. The company responded to their SNL shout-out this weekend with a tweet reading: "If no one is buying cars, then what are they all doing in our drive-thru?"

This weekend's episode of SNL was relatively well-received, and Jordan's performance as host has been lauded. The episode is streaming now on Peacock and Hulu. The show will be back this weekend with host Pedro Pascal and musical guest Coldplay.

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