DORSET’S luxury paint brand Farrow & Ball took out a full-page advert in the New York Times after unexpectedly starring in America’s comedy institution Saturday Night Live.

The Ferndown-based company recently received coast-to-coast fame in the US after a character in the sketch show showed off her freshly painted home.

The sketch saw comic Aidy Bryant describe the Farrow & Ball as “the high end British paint company that offers unparalleled depth and col-our”, adding: “It’s not just paint, it’s Farrow & Ball.”

Despite not being a paid-for product placement, the sketch – also featuring Beck Bennet and guest host Kristen Stewart – showed a Farrow & Ball can and quoted from its marketing.

In the sketch, Stewart points out that Bryant’s character is pronouncing colour “like the word color but with a ‘u’ in it” leading to a series of gags with exaggerated pronunciation such as “He just wants me to live in squa-lour”.

Matt Lever, creative partner at BMB, Farrow & Ball’s newly appointed London creative agency said: “We felt a tactical ad in a key New York weekend paper was the answer.”

BMB booked a full page New York Times ad for Farrow & Ball, to directly answer the Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch, announcing a new “Saturday Night Live special edition col-our!”

Named as “English Roast No. 30”, the colour is described in the ad as: “A rich and good hum-oured hue with subtle hints of bone-dry satire and a lingering aftertaste of charred British beef. It’s not just paint, it’s Farrow & Ball.”

Anthony Davey, chief executive at Farrow & Bal, said: , “After we saw the show and put it on our socials, Kent Sublette, who is a senior writer at Saturday Night Live SNL tweeted back: ‘Couldn’t have written this unless I truly loved Farrow & Ball!’

“And in his tweet he’s got a picture of a collection of Farrow & Ball sample pots. And says, ‘Thanks for having a sense of hu-mour!’ so he’s apparently a customer of ours!”

Now in its 45th season, Saturday Night Live plays to audiences of more than six million, with many more watching sketches online afterwards.

Mr Lever said: “The advertisement was turned around in just one day. The key to any tactical ad is speed. It only seemed right for a British brand to use light-hearted British wit in the ad.

“Whilst Farrow & Ball doesn’t always use jokes in their creative, it is still a warm and human brand. Embracing humour is just another facet of that.

“Like most Brits we are aware of how big SNL is as a show and the importance of it in US comedy. it’s birthed some of my favourite actors.”