Duff Beer is a brand of beer that originated as a fictional beverage on the American animated series The Simpsons. Beers using the Duff branding have been brewed in a number of countries, resulting in legal battles with varying results. An official version is sold in three variations near the Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios. In 2015, 20th Century Fox, the producer of The Simpsons, began selling licensed Duff beer in Chile, with a view to driving out brandjacking.
In 2016, Time included Duff Beer in a list of the most influential fictional companies of all time.
Duff in The Simpsons
Duff is Homer Simpson's beer of choice. It is a parody of stereotypical mass-market American lager: cheap, poor-quality, and heavily marketed everywhere.
The beer's slogan is "Can't Get Enough of That Wonderful Duff", though there are others. In the season four episode, "Duffless", parking lot signs at the Duff brewery have the slogans "It's Always Time For Duff" and "Now Leaving Duff Country". In the first season episode, "Homer's Odyssey", Duff is described as "The beer that makes the days fly by".
Their spokesperson is Duffman, a parody of Budweiser's 1970s-era mascot Bud Man. He is a muscular, bleach-blond, well-tanned man with whitened teeth who wears a blue leotard and cape, red Duff Beer ballcap, mirror sunglasses, and a utility belt full of cans of Duff Beer. He speaks in a loud and overly-enthusiastic staccato voice (like a radio DJ or beer commercial pitchman) and does a lot of exaggerated physical movements like a male exotic dancer - like dancing in place, groin-thrusting, hip shaking, and rubbing his buttocks with a towel. There are apparently many identical Duffmen; however, like mall Santas they never appear at the same place at the same time (so as to not disillusion the kids). One retired Duffman in Alcoholics Anonymous referred to himself as "Barry Duffman", indicating that he had to assume the identity of Duffman as part of the job. Some of the actors who play him have actually died (presumably from alcohol-related causes); their demise was never acknowledged because the character of Duffman is unaging and immortal. At public appearances he is often flanked by a random pair of beautiful, scantily-clad women who act as arm-candy, backup dancers, and assistants.
While Duff Beer comes in several varieties, it is revealed on a Duff Brewery tour in "Duffless" that regular Duff, Duff Light, and Duff Dry are the same beer, although Homer and Barney apparently remain oblivious to the fact. A tasting room contains Duff Dark beer and Duff Gummy Beers candy; it also contains several varieties that Barney stated they had not tried yet, including "Raspberry Duff", "Lady Duff" and "Tartar Control Duff".
In "A Tree Grows in Springfield", Homer asks for Moe's best beer, so Moe gives him a Duff Adequate. In "The Great Louse Detective", Duffman claims that Duff Stout is "the beer that made Ireland famous". In "Homer the Moe", Moe sells "Malaysian Duff", which is made with soy sauce at his trendy bar. In "The Springfield Files", Moe offers Homer a bottle of "Düff"—a variant allegedly from Sweden, but is actually just a normal bottle of Duff with an accent mark drawn over the U with marker ( ).
In "The War of Art", Homer offers Kirk Van Houten a "Canadian Duff", which is labeled as "Le Duff Beer avec Codeine", and has a picture of Duffman in a RCMP uniform saying his catch phrase in both English (Oh Yeah!) and French (Mais Oui!).
In "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk", Homer celebrates a recent minor stock windfall by ordering a bottle of Henry K. Duff's Private Reserve, which is implied to be more costly and of better quality, and which is an apparent spoof of Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve, as well as alluding to Hendrik Doeff, the Dutch commissioner of the Dejima trading outpost, who first introduced beer to Japan.
In the season 21 episode "To Surveil With Love", Duffman makes a giveaway of Duff advertising in Moe's bar while "Get Ready For This" by 2 Unlimited plays on the background, suggesting this might be the theme song for the beer brand or for the character.
Fudd, a competitor to Duff, appears in the episodes "Colonel Homer" and "Lemon of Troy", the latter showing it being enjoyed by residents of Shelbyville, rival town to the Simpsons' home of Springfield. Consumption of Fudd however is alleged by bartender Moe Szyslak to have made hillbillies go blind.