When I was just a kid, watching cartoons was nothing more than a Saturday morning tradition that consisted of breakfast in front of the television and a strict pajama dress code. This routine was simply a way to escape from the week and be mindlessly entertained until the end of the weekly Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon marathon. I vividly remember one particular Saturday morning that was easily ten years ago, when my family visited my cousin’s house in New York. All of us kids assumed our religious positions in front of their family television with our delicious breakfasts in hands and we began to watch my personal favorite cartoon from my younger years, SpongeBob SquarePants. As the time and episodes passed like clockwork, I could hear my uncle dutifully comment on certain jokes and allusions to my mother who sat watching in the seat next to his. Unfortunately, I was too young and too enthralled in the cartoons at the time to care enough to ask which scenes he was referring to or their meaning. However, I later found out he was remarking the underlying deeper and at times inappropriate message behind what we thought were merely entertaining animated hijinks. As I got older and my parents stopped policing the shows I watched, my adoration for comedy and more mature humor naturally brought me to The Simpson’s. I was instantaneously hooked on the humor and weekly anarchy that went on in that family’s Springfield household, but it wasn’t until I started mature and progress through school that I realized that Matt Groening imbedded far deeper messages within ever little nuance of the show. The character descriptions and development, the script, and even just the general family dynamic within The Simpson’s themselves contained allegories to everyday life, literature and their own generalizations.  Millions of people watch and enjoy The Simpsons everyday, whether they be adults or kids, without watching closely, questioning, and finding the deeper meaning behind each episode. Cartoon writers are artists in they’re own right because they depict these large story landscapes and rarely leave anything without a deeply seeded purpose and this is evident within this massively successful, nearly 30-year-old cartoon. The specific episode in question is called “Duffless” and hidden beneath the idiosyncrasies and the middle-class hilarity lies an eye opening message about the world of advertisements and the age restricted product industry as a whole. Discernibly, there are two central schools of thought and types of viewers, with inevitable gray in the middle, when watching cartoons like The Simpsons. These two categories are the observers for entertainment’s sake, which of course makes up a large number of the viewing population, and then there are the thinkers or the analysts, which of course also more than likely view the cartoon for entertainment, but do so on a deeper level. Within the “Duffless” episode, the analysts are able to laugh along with the satire, while recognizing the underlying denotation which is that large companies spend millions of dollars on marketing their product by essentially brainwashing certain sects of the public into buying it. 

Homer Simpson’s depiction includes non-flattering traits such as: lazy, fat, stupid, alcoholic, etc. Groening’s choice to characterize the father in this way is in itself a generalized allegory towards the average middle class father figure; However, I digress. The alcoholism that Homer possesses presents itself as his “fatal” flaw when he over indulges and makes the decision to drive in spite of the impending consequences of this actions. This inevitably culminates in his arrest and Marge’s plea for him to try and give up drinking beer for a month. His reluctant compliance results in a grueling month long struggle to avoid the overbearing number of tempting advertisement and it is here we begin to pick up on these strategies that these companies use to pander to certain sects of society. Clearly the 30-minute time slot for each episode does not allot sufficient time to divulge every last method that advertisers deploy, but Matt Groening made sure to include the clear targeting of the lower intelligence masses, sexualization (of women for the most part), and the intentionally emphasized relationship of alcohol and sports. 

Most everyone knows that big tobacco companies used to advertise all over media and use celebrities, doctors, and anyone else that would build their products credibility among the masses. Doctors, real and fake, would participate in ads recommending cigarettes and, at times, even applaud their health benefits. Of course, through intensive research, scientists have attributed millions of deaths to the malicious effects smoke has on the body. Similarly, Groening actually incorporated a brief advertisement history for Duff beer early on in the episode. Within this historical run-through, they present an example showing a man dressed as doctor promoting the excessive consumption of Duff because “Only Duff fills your ‘Q’ zone with pure beer goodness” (Groening, “Duffless”). This was to attract all of the lower intellectual people by making them truly believe that beer is healthy and good for you and to reference the similarities between these two industries. The United States government prosecuted companies towards the end of the 20th century, mainly big tobacco conglomerates, for utilizing false advertising such as this to pander to the “average joes, who don’t know any better to question the sincerity of said ads, and deemed this method unlawful. Nonetheless, Groening also poked fun at this outlawed advertising strategy to provide a solid baseline for the ensuing advertisements he exploits and Homer comes across as his arduous effort to forfeit beer progresses. 

“Sex sells!” You’ve most likely heard that said by a marketer in some form of media or social outlet and the reason is that companies hire researchers that work tirelessly to uncover key demographics and what catches those people’s attention. Groening realized that the excessive sexualization of both men and women that is prevalent in modern society has grown out of control and is now actively used to push products to specific groups of people. In the case of Duff beer, Groening pinned the key demographic as middle, to working class men with medium intellect and Homer fits wonderfully into that category. There is no coincidence why beer ads showcase beautiful, naked women; It is meticulously studied and polled that sex is a very large selling point to this specific population. At several different points in his journey, Homer comes across different advertisement mediums with half naked women playing the role of the temptress seducing these men into buying their product. This is not to say that the general use of masculinity or femininity in order to push a product on to the public is wrong, but in the very real way that Groening depicts modern societies sexualization strategy, it is not right. There is a suspicious sense of hostility within the use of naked women to tempt men because it seems to an outside observer that through this low level indoctrination, these beer companies are forcing men to purchase their product that some may not have any interest in. One of the commercials that Homer is subjected to begins by showing a group of protesting feminists and pans aside to a couple of Duff beer enthusiasts who comment, “look at all those feminists!” to which his buddy replies, “You thinking what I’m thinking?” as they proceed to spray Duff beer all over them (Groening, “Duffless”). The women magically transform into dancing, half naked, giddy girls and the men join them while the camera seems to pan outwards revealing the slogan, “Can’t get enough of that wonderful Duff!” (Groening, “Duffless”). While this is an entirely inappropriate advertisement for so many reasons such as: the promotion of sexism among these men while simultaneously putting down women. It also promotes the alcohol and rape culture that is, unfortunately, common in modern society. After all of that, there is still the upsetting truth that Groening had to do extremely little inflating to this cartoon styled commercial because that was based upon a real beer advertisement that aired on national television. One would think that even though a demographic is identified for a specific product, it still isn’t recommended to insult and alienate an entire gender in the process. Sadly, this is where modern society has arrived at and this is a prime example for why cartoon writers like Matt Groening are talented artists for exposing the revolting truth to a widespread audience. 

The wide world of product advertisement and sports is a completely different animal and a whole new sect of alienating the female gender. It is a commonly accepted stereotype in our culture that men enjoy sports and women don’t because sports require a sense of masculinity to understand. Homer’s sober journey takes on this particular issue when he is desperately trying to not think about alcohol. He takes a trip to a local baseball game with his group of friends where they watch from a sea of men consuming the one thing he knows he can’t have. Alas, he did not gather from previous visits to the ball park that sport spectating is synonymous with alcohol consumption and manly bonding in modern society. As he soberly sits amongst a harassment of Duff beer signs and advertisements, he actually comes to the revelation that the reason he enjoyed watching baseball prior to that point was due to the alcohol and not the game itself. There are absolutely tens of thousands of exceptions to this generalization, but the lone representation of this realization illustrated by Groening speaks volumes about society and the customs within. Players, teams, leagues, and stadiums all over the United States do their part to help endorse these alcoholic products to the same demographic as I mentioned prior; therefore, over time it has become commonplace to drink while spectating. This tradition has its basis carved into the very foundation that brought us the pleasure of sport entertainment. 

The most remarkable aspect of these incredibly popular cartoons is their aptitude to both entertain a vast audience and carry a much deeper message for those who are intuitive enough to pick up on the intricacies of the subject. “Duffless” could arguably be classified as a brilliant and satirical expose on the deplorable nature of modern advertising, especially in the cases of alcohol, but it can also be enjoyed as a delightful source of comedic entertainment as the audience is invited to take part in yet another sequence of Simpson hijinks. I recommend when presented with the next opportunity to watch a genius cartoon, like The Simpsons, don’t squander the chance and sit back and watch passively. Pay attention and listen carefully. At the bare minimum you will find that understanding the deeper message makes the entirety of the show all the more enjoyable. 
