Chilean drinkers will get a taste of Homer Simpson’s favorite problem-solver, Duff Beer, this week as part of a marketing gambit by 21st Century Fox.
After decades of chasing down unlicensed versions of the Simpsons beer, the media giant decided to make its own version of the Springfield staple.
Jeffrey Godsick, president of Fox’s consumer products division, told the Wall Street Journal the company planned to start selling Duff in Chile, where unlicensed versions have been sold for years. Sales are set to expand in early 2016 to other parts of South America and Europe.
“Once you see enough piracy, you are faced with two choices,” Godsick said. “One is deciding to fight it, and the other is deciding to go out [into the market] with it.”
British brewmaster Paul Farnswoth created a framework recipe for the deep golden craft beer.
“It’s got a hint of fruit to it,” Godsick said. “It’s got a caramel aromatic to it.”
Versions of Duff have been available elsewhere. One was available in Australia for five months in 2014, until a government agency determined that the product was too appealing to people under 18.
“Measures to market the product without references to The Simpsons characters or images cannot be effective to overcome the strong and evident appeal of the product material to underage persons,” ruled a panel from Australia’s Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code.
Visitors to the Universal theme park in Orlando have been able to sample the beer since the summer of 2013, and at the park in Los Angeles since May.
On Amazon, people can by 12fl oz cans of Duff energy drink, which carries a similar black and white logo on a bright red container.
Godsick said Fox planned to make an exact replica of Homer’s beloved bright red beer can with a simple black and white logo, but added that marketing would not include characters from the show, the longest-running scripted television series in history.
