Duff Beer | Simpsons Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
Duff's equivalent in Shelbyville is Fudd Beer .
Moe Szyslak once tried to sell Homer a can of "Swedish Duff", or Düff (a fake beer that Moe made up by himself by adding the umlaut with magic marker). This is not to be confused with "Scandinavian Düff, the Beer of Danish Kings" [1] . He also offered "Malaysian Duff" [2] , which was made of soy sauce. There was also at least one variation actually from another country and also of implied high-quality called Duffenbraus, although the label stated it was "semi-imported." Moe supplied these to Mayor Quimby and Homer Simpson (the latter of whom had been hired as the former's bodyguard thanks to his saving his life at a riot at the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con ) on the house when the Mayor made an unexpected visit to the Tavern, strongly implied to be to get a bribe to call off a mandatory health inspection.
When Bart , Lisa and Selma visit Duff Gardens [3] the gift shop sells Duff Beer Goggles that let you see and hear everything like a drunk. When Bart puts them on, they make Aunt Selma look and sound more attractive.
When Homer tours the Duff Brewery in " Duffless ", a pipeline is seen splitting freshly-brewed beer into the Duff, Duff Dry and Duff Lite tanks, implying they are the same beer with different labels. The tasting room features Duff Dark, Raspberry Duff, and Tartar-Control Duff. There's also Lady Duff for women (presumably regular Duff Beer in a pink can). Duff tie-in products include a Duff Beer Suitcase, Duff "Gummy Beers" candy, and Duff Beer Calendars.
In " Bart to the Future ", a grown-up Bart is seen drinking a Future Duff Beer . It's the same can with the Duff logo inset with little flashing lights.
The Billboard gag in the episode " American History X-cellent " features an ad for Duff 200, made of pure 200-proof grain alcohol, with the tagline "NOTHIN' BUT BOOZE".
When Homer, Mr. Burns and Smithers flee to Cuba in " The Trouble with Trillions ", there is an advertisement for a Cuban beer called El Duffo. It shows the famous headshot of Ernesto "Che" Guevara except he is holding a can of El Duffo. The beer's slogan El Duffo o Muerte ("Duff or Death!") is a parody of Guevara's famous revolutionary phrase, " Patria o Muerte " ("Motherland or Death").
In "The War of Art", Homer offers Kirk Van Houten a bottle of Canadian Duff (or Le Duff avec Codeine on the label in French), which is laced with Cough Medicine. The label on the bottle's neck has a picture of Canadian Duffman wearing a Mountie uniform and saying his catch phrase in both English ("Oh Yeah!") and French ("Mais Oui!").
Other Versions
Henry K. Duff's Private Reserve
Duff High-Extra Beer, which comes in high-volume "Tallboy" cans.
Canadian Duff (or Le Duff avec Codeine) [8]
There's also Duff Malt, a malt-liquor beverage, and Duff Champagne [9] , a reasonably-priced sparkling white wine.
Behind the Laughter
It has become one of the trademarks of the show appearing in merchandise, popular culture and adverts.
Possible inspiration
The word "duff" is common English slang for "useless" or "broken" (it can also mean pregnant, in the phrase "up the duff"). Like many other countries, discerning beer-drinkers often characterize popular domestic brews in a pejorative way (American criticize Budweiser, Australians discount Fosters, Victoria Bitter et cetera) as being mass-market swill. Clearly, the character of Homer represents the typical mindless drone who would drink whatever beer was marketed most heavily, regardless of quality, as satire of undiscriminating beer drinkers who routinely purchase "popular" (read: heavily advertised) beer.
Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan (who in the early days of Guns N' Roses was known as Duff "The King Of Beers" McKagan) has claimed in his autobiography that Duff was named after him. However, people who work at the show scoff at the claim, calling it "absurd."
According to David Silverman, the single factor behind the name Duff is that it rhymes with "enough"; the idea for the slogan "Can't get enough of that wonderful Duff" actually came first.
The Shelbyville equivalent to Duff, Fudd is notably Duff with the letters D and F being transposed.
Similarities to Budweiser
Duff has been likened to Budweiser beer. [10]
Budweiser has used a cartoon spokesperson named "Budman", who is similar to Duff's Duffman . [11]
Budweiser used a real dog called Spuds MacKenzie 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 violet diagonal areas above the product's name. [12]
Duff is the corporate sponsor to a stadium and an amusement park which parallels Budweiser's corporate parent, Anheuser-Busch with Busch Stadium in St. Louis and Busch Gardens.
During the Super Bowl in the episode " Lisa the Greek ", Duff has an advertisement where Duff Lite and Duff Dry play in the Duff Bowl, which is analogous to Budweiser's Bud Bowl.
Real Duff beers
Duff energy drinks as seen at the Kwik-E-Mart in Universal Studios California
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. The product was ordered to be pulled off store shelves and destroyed, becoming a collector's item in the process.
Universal Studios Orlando
In 2013 when Universal Studios Orlando transformed the area around The Simpsons Ride into a Springfield themed area, Duff Beer was officially brewed as an exclusive drink for the area, appearing in regular, Duff Lite and Duff Dry variants and served at Moe's Tavern and a Duff Brewery beer garden.
Duff Beer Distribution was first set up in early 2011 in the UK, specializing in the import and distribution of The Legendary Duff Beer - See more at: http://www.duffbeer.co.uk/about-us/#sthash.gVWnE2Lb.dpuf
Duff Scam
As reported on the T.V. show Inside Edition, there was a scam in 2004 where an Australian woman was trying to sell Duff beer similar to the one on The Simpsons (in which the can had the same logo as the can on the show). She went to court to sue the person who sold it to her but the case was thrown out by the judge a few days later.
Official licensed release in Chile
Fox announced plans to sell Duff Beer in Chile with the goal of rolling out the Simpsons inspired product in Europe and other parts of South America. [13]
See also