‘SNL’ Pairs Please Don’t Destroy With Allstate in Surprising Season 50 Commercial

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The opening credits to last night’s broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” told viewers they’d get to see something they really like: a new short film from Please Don’t Destroy, the small troupe of writers who make frenetic vignettes that often shock as much as they delight.

What was delivered, however, was decidedly different. The three-person “PDD” team did turn up on screen, but not during the show.

Instead, members Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy were part of a commercial from insurance giant Allstate that appeared during an ad break and had the trio holding forth opposite “Mayhem,” the longstanding ad character who has been played by actor Dean Winters for more than a decade.

The original Please Don’t Destroy sketch that was supposed to air on “SNL” was cut by producers due to time constraints, according to a person familiar with the matter, and has been made available online.