"Changing threat level to Magenta" (SNL) - What is the "Magenta" joke?

Solution 1:

The underlying reference is to the display of "threat level" as a color in a span from green (minimum threat) to red (maximum threat). The problem with this code is that the distinctions are, as far as most people are concerned, quite arbitrary.

Magenta is a reddish color. So is maroon and so is oxblood. Which is redder, and how do these gradations of color correspond to gradations in the threat level? As the speaker says, "[sigh] I honestly don't have an answer for you."

The joke is that the security services (DHS in the US) seem often to draw distinctions which they consider important, but the rest of us find opaque. As such, the humor in the joke relies on tweaking the DHS for being uninformative when it thinks its being helpful, and is an expression of discontent with how the government bureaucracy is functioning.

Solution 2:

This joke refers to the Homeland Security Advisory System, which was introduced by the US Department of Homeland Security shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The system was criticized for many reasons, one of which is that the criteria for each "threat level" were not made public. It was impossible for anyone to understand why a threat level had been selected, what the actual threats to the public might be at any given time using the system, or what actions they should take.

It's this aspect of the system which the joke is lampooning. Magenta is meant to be beyond red in this scheme, but like the scheme itself, there is no particular meaning anyone can ascribe to it.

Given that the joke refers to something peculiarly American, which might not be generally known in your country, I'm not sure this is easily translatable.

The Homeland Security Advisory System was phased out in 2011.