Duff Beer (The Simpsons)
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Duff Beer is a fictional brand of beer in the animated series The Simpsons. It is Homer Simpson's beer of choice. It is a parody of stereotypical American mass-produced beer: poor-quality, cheap, and advertised everywhere. The beer's official spokesperson is Duffman.
The show's creators appear to have designed the Duff Beer label for the making of the May 1990 episode "Some Enchanted Evening". The notes "MAKE UP BEER LABEL DUFF BEER?" can be found on p.16 of the first draft of the episode's script.
The chief competitor of Duff Beer is Fudd Beer. It is intentionally the "opposite" of Duff, with the consonant sounds being reversed, but with parallel spelling. Homer became aware of Fudd Beer while patronizing a "redneck bar" in nearby Spittle County (in the episode "Colonel Homer"). It was later revealed to be considered very popular in Springfield's rival town of Shelbyville. Moe said he thought it had been banned "after all those hillbillies went blind", suggesting that at least one faulty batch of Fudd was laced with methyl alcohol.
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[edit] Similarities to Budweiser
Duff has been likened to Budweiser beer.[1]
- Budweiser has used a cartoon spokesperson named "Budman".[2]
- Budweiser used a real dog called Spuds McKenzie as a mascot to promote Bud Light. In the episode "Old Yeller Belly", the Simpson's dog, Santa's Little Helper becomes Duff's mascot under the name Suds McDuff.
- Like Duff's, the Budweiser logo has red diagonal areas above the product's name.[3]
- Duff is the corporate sponsor to a baseball stadium and an amusement park which parallels Budweiser's corporate parent, Anheuser-Busch with Busch Stadium in St. Louis and Busch Gardens.
- Howard K. Duff VIII is president of Duff Beer, the current president of Anheuser-Busch is August A. Busch IV.
[edit] Duff brands and where they appear
- Duffenbrau - Mayored to the Mob
- Cloudy D fruit juice - The Homer Book
- Crystal Duff - Various Episodes
- Duff Blue (slogan: "Tap into the peppermint glacier") - Old Yeller Belly
- Duff Dark - Duffless
- Duff Dry "Duffless" - Lisa the Greek
- Duff Gummi Beers - Duffless
- Duff Lite - Duffless
- Duff Stout ("the beer that made Ireland famous," according to Duffman) - The Great Louse Detective
- Duff Zero non-alcoholic beer - Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment
- Henry K. Duff's Private Reserve - Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk, Sunday, Cruddy Sunday
- Lady Duff - Duffless
- Raspberry Duff - Duffless
- Tartar Control Duff - Duffless
- Duff, Extra Cold - The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson
- Future Duff Beer - Bart to the Future
There is also a 'Duff Stadium', owned by Duff, home of the baseball team, the 'Springfield Isotopes'.
Some of these brands are parodies of specific brands or styles of beer. For instance, "Henry K. Duff's Private Reserve" refers to "Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve", a beer originally brewed in Matt Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon.
When Homer tours the Duff brewery, it is revealed (though apparently not to him) that Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry all come from the same pipe.
During the Springfield prohibition, Duff breweries started producing the alcohol-free Duff Zero, claiming that people drank Duff for its robust taste rather than its alcohol content. This drove the company to bankruptcy within thirty minutes. During the historic Prohibition Duff sold a "patent medicine" called "Doctor Duff's Health Tonic", as shown on a poster in Duffless.
In addition, Düff (pronounced "Doof") was created when Moe drew an umlaut on a bottle of Duff to pass it off as a Swedish import when Homer asked to try something new. Homer surprisingly knew what Moe was trying to do and Homer then tried a Red Tick Beer, which is brewed with dogs swimming in the fermenting tank.
[edit] Duff Gardens
In the episode entitled "Selma's Choice", Bart and Lisa Simpson travel with their aunt Selma to Duff Gardens, a parody of the Busch Gardens amusement park, but also containing elements of Disneyland. There, they see the mascots of Duff Beer, the Seven Duffs: Sleazy, Queazy, Edgy, Surly, Tipsy, Remorseful, and Dizzy. Surly is often seen in other episodes such as when Moe's is closing down, Surly pours some of his liquid onto the street in front of it. Bart and Lisa ride "The Little Land of Duff" attraction, where they hear this song (repeated over and over):
- Duff Beer for me!
- Duff Beer for you!
- I'll have a Duff,
- You have one too!
This is a direct parody of the "it's a small world" attraction at Disneyland. Unlike that attraction, the boats float on a brown liquid with hallucinogenic properties, which Lisa drinks on a dare from Bart.
Other Duff Gardens attractions include the Beeramid, the Beerquarium ("Home of the world's happiest fish"), the Beer Hall of Presidents, the Washing Machine ride, the Whiplash rollercoaster, singing group Hooray for Everything (who sing a politically correct version of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" and are based on Up with People), and a direct parody of Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade.
[edit] Duff court case
In the late 1990s, the Lion Nathan brewery in Australia produced an unrelated beer called "Duff Beer". 20th Century Fox brought legal action against the company.[4] The product was ordered to be pulled off of store shelves and destroyed; becoming a collectors item in the process.
[edit] References
- ^ "Advertising of America's Beer Companies and the Duff Corporation", The Simpsons Archive
- ^ August A. Busch & Co. of MA, Inc.
- ^ Budweiser official page
- ^ TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION AND MATT GROENING PRODUCTIONS INC v. THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BREWING CO LTD AND LION NATHAN AUSTRALIA PTY LTD No. NG 155 of 1996 FED No. 365/96 Trade Practices - Passing Off. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
