Confirmation from Simpsons writer that Duff Beer is not based on Duff McKagan

[gunsnchalupas]

This is nearly as absurd as arguing that the mechanical part was named after Axl Rose, and it must be true because Axl spins around a lot on stage.

[gunsnchalupas]

5 hours ago, Sausagebrain said:

As Duff himself has admitted, his memory of those years is very patchy. Because he was drunk or high nearly all of the time. 

What could have happened is that The Simpsons' writers came up with the name Duff without initially thinking about Mr McKagan. But perhaps later on they thought they'd better reach out to him to check that he was ok with their fictional beer being the same as his fictional name.

 

Or maybe their lawyers suggested they should do that?

 

I don't mean to be a jerk, but this is such an absurd idea. I always assumed it was named Duff beer because duff is slang for butt, and in the context of the show, the storylines and gags with the beer and alcoholics in the show are typically portrayed as fat lazy slobs. 

Had Duff not been a word prior to GNR, I would understand people making this connection. People are acting like he made up the word and people weren't commonly aware of it being slang already prior to GNR.

The beer being named after Duff doesn't make any sense in the context of the show. I can't imagine how anybody even got the idea. I'd guess that maybe Duff just heard it somewhere and assumed it was true. 

There is no reasonable connection. I get it was a different time, where members of bands were much more visible as pop culture figures, but it isn't even like your average person knew who Duff McKagan was. Axl or Slash, sure. 

Edited November 17, 2023 by gunsnchalupas

[Karice]

9 hours ago, gunsnchalupas said:

This is nearly as absurd as arguing that the mechanical part was named after Axl Rose, and it must be true because Axl spins around a lot on stage.

Not really a decent comparison. The mechanical part called an axle was created way before William chose the name Axl. 😀 The Simpsons was created 2 years after Guns N'Roses officially debuted. 😉

[D4NNY]

59 minutes ago, Karice said:

The Simpsons was created 2 years after Guns N'Roses officially debuted. 😉

Well.. the show itself first aired in Dec 1989, the first ever appearance of The Simpsons on tv was April 1987, three months before AFD was released. 
 

Relax.. what is mind? No matter, what is matter? Never mind.

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by D4NNY

[Sausagebrain]

10 hours ago, gunsnchalupas said:

 

I don't mean to be a jerk, but this is such an absurd idea. I always assumed it was named Duff beer because duff is slang for butt, and in the context of the show, the storylines and gags with the beer and alcoholics in the show are typically portrayed as fat lazy slobs. 

Had Duff not been a word prior to GNR, I would understand people making this connection. People are acting like he made up the word and people weren't commonly aware of it being slang already prior to GNR.

The beer being named after Duff doesn't make any sense in the context of the show. I can't imagine how anybody even got the idea. I'd guess that maybe Duff just heard it somewhere and assumed it was true. 

There is no reasonable connection. I get it was a different time, where members of bands were much more visible as pop culture figures, but it isn't even like your average person knew who Duff McKagan was. Axl or Slash, sure. 

Like I said - yes it is probable that they came up with the idea of naming it Duff without thinking of Duff McKagan.

But maybe, at some point, they thought it would be wise to check with Duff himself that it was okay. Just in case Duff later got the wrong idea that it was named after him and decided to sue. 

[dave94]

On 11/17/2023 at 2:46 AM, gunsnchalupas said:

 

I don't mean to be a jerk, but this is such an absurd idea. I always assumed it was named Duff beer because duff is slang for butt, and in the context of the show, the storylines and gags with the beer and alcoholics in the show are typically portrayed as fat lazy slobs. 

Had Duff not been a word prior to GNR, I would understand people making this connection. People are acting like he made up the word and people weren't commonly aware of it being slang already prior to GNR.

The beer being named after Duff doesn't make any sense in the context of the show. I can't imagine how anybody even got the idea. I'd guess that maybe Duff just heard it somewhere and assumed it was true. 

There is no reasonable connection. I get it was a different time, where members of bands were much more visible as pop culture figures, but it isn't even like your average person knew who Duff McKagan was. Axl or Slash, sure. 

To be fair I’ve never heard the word “duff” used mean butt in my life until reading this thread, it must be any US thing as in the UK that word usually means either useless or “up the duff” means pregnant. Both GNR and the Simpsons are as popular outside the US as they are in the US so to the vast majority of people “duff beer” is just a nonsense name which could have come from anywhere. 

[Blackstar]

Bumping the thread, since this controversy has come up again.

Duff was asked about it in this recent interview and insisted on his story saying that the writers should own it up:

https://www.stereogum.com/2266852/duff-mckagan-career-spanning-interview/interviews/weve-got-a-file-on-you/

And then in the beginning of this interview:

And now there is a response from the main writer of the show, who is saying that they didn't even know who Duff was back then:

https://www.tmz.com/2024/06/16/simpsons-duff-beer-name-guns-n-roses/

Edited June 16 by Blackstar

[colonizedmind]

15 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Bumping the thread, since this controversy has come up again.

Duff was asked about it in this recent interview and insisted on his story saying that the writers should own it up:

https://www.stereogum.com/2266852/duff-mckagan-career-spanning-interview/interviews/weve-got-a-file-on-you/

And then in the beginning of this interview:

And now there is a response from one of the writers, who is claiming that they didn't even know who Duff was back then:

https://www.tmz.com/2024/06/16/simpsons-duff-beer-name-guns-n-roses/

Is he got his business hat on, angling for royalties or something? 😸

[Blackstar]

Just now, colonizedmind said:

Is he got his business hat on, angling for royalties or something? 😸

He says he's not asking for money. Actually the Stereogum interviewer started it.

The writer's response is quite insulting.

 

[colonizedmind]

31 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

He says he's not asking for money. Actually the Stereogum interviewer started it.

The writer's response is quite insulting.

 

I've not watched it or read yet. I'll add it to my "later" folder 👍

Edited June 16 by colonizedmind

[MYWIFEMYLIFE]

Fucking lie

Axl is Willie, Slash is Otto, Duff is Duff.

james hetfield is ned flanders.

[Ratam]

On 6/16/2024 at 1:09 PM, Blackstar said:

He says he's not asking for money. Actually the Stereogum interviewer started it.

The writer's response is quite insulting.

 

I don't understand Duff insistence.

[themadcaplaughs]

On 6/16/2024 at 12:09 PM, Blackstar said:

He says he's not asking for money. Actually the Stereogum interviewer started it.

The writer's response is quite insulting.

 

What makes you say it was insulting? It seems like a legitimate answer to a question the writer probably never wants to be asked again. Even if it was insulting, Duff's comment about it in the Stereogum article was a bit saucy (although it probably comes across a bit harsher over text than it did during the interview). I can just imagine that after the issue came up over a decade ago, The Simpsons writers were just peeved to have to deal with it again. 

Edited June 17 by themadcaplaughs

[Chris 55]

Yeah Duff has been saying for years that the beer was named after him. I think they finally just got fed up. 

[Blackstar]

15 minutes ago, themadcaplaughs said:

What makes you say it was insulting? It seems like a legitimate answer to a question the writer probably never wants to be asked again. Even if it was insulting, Duff's comment about it in the Stereogum article was a bit saucy (although it probably comes across a bit harsher over text than it did during the interview). I can just imagine that after the issue came up over a decade ago, The Simpsons writers were just peeved to have to deal with it again. 

I thought that the '"Simpsons' writers and producers back in the day didn't know anyone in GN'R beyond Axl Rose" bit was a harsh thing to say (even if it's true).

[MYWIFEMYLIFE]

Noone could unknow GNR back in the day, you may be totally unaware of music but they were all over the news thx to zealots then 

[SoulMonster]

19 hours ago, Ratam said:

I don't understand Duff insistence.

Probably because he really believes what he is saying and thinks it is a funny little piece of trivia.

[Ratam]

36 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Probably because he really believes what he is saying and thinks it is a funny little piece of trivia.

But the issue is he risk to be ridiculized any time he said it by Simpson writer.

[nugdafied]

-Jay Kogen co-wrote that Jan. 21, 1990 episode, “Homer's Odyssey,” in which Duff debuted. “Wally Wolodarsky and I came up with the name when we were writing the episode it first appeared in,” Kogen said in an email. “We thought Homer would drink an American beer like Budweiser, which everyone calls Bud-

 

Gmafb. These guys are trying to say that by early 1990, these hip, culturally aware writers had no idea of Duff "The King of Beers" McKagan. They obviously just substituted Duff for Bud. 

 

BY the time Duff Beer appeared on the Simpsons, GnR had been in every American's face all day, everyday for at least a good year & a half.

 

These guys knew exactly who Duff McKagan was.

 

 

[SoulMonster]

9 minutes ago, Ratam said:

But the issue is he risk to be ridiculized any time he said it by Simpson writer.

He probably doesn't care. 

[Ratam]

1 minute ago, SoulMonster said:

He probably doesn't care. 

Yes, due he insistence is plausible he dont"t care anymore.

[ChristmasFnatic]

Im not sure who is telling the truth but I know many fans who only knows GN’R as Axl, Slash and the rest. Just like Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and the other 3.

[Karice]

On 6/17/2024 at 11:00 AM, MYWIFEMYLIFE said:

Fucking lie

Axl is Willie, Slash is Otto, Duff is Duff.

james hetfield is ned flanders.

I also said something like,"Willie and Axl even share the same Biological first name (William/Willie) and I got LAUGHED at! 😵‍💫

[gunsnchalupas]

On 6/16/2024 at 12:09 PM, Blackstar said:

He says he's not asking for money. Actually the Stereogum interviewer started it.

The writer's response is quite insulting.

 

 

I don't get how it is insulting. 

Duff wasn't really an A-list celebrity. If he said he didn't know who Axl and Slash were in the late 80s, I would raise an eyebrow. Is he supposed to pretend to know who Duff is? 

Additionally, put yourself in the writer's shoes. Duff's claim, if untrue, is reckless and damaging to their reputation. Considering the nature of Duff's state of being at that time, and the fact that Duff previously was slang for butt (sitting on your duff), etc - which is more likely: 

-The Simpsns show always portrayed the drunks (Barney, etc) as lazy losers who sat on their fat asses. They named the beer appropriately as part of the gag. Duff misremembered something that happened 30 years ago when the band was deep in drug and alcohol use.

-The Simpsons show decided to name a beer after the least or second least known member of a popular rock group, even know it made no sense with how it was prevented in the show. 

I would be shocked if it was named after Duff. It makes no sense at all. It's about as sensible as a theory that Kiss From A Rose by Seal is about Axl because the word Rose is the same as Axl's last name. 

Duff looks like an idiot here. 

[Free Bird]

3 hours ago, gunsnchalupas said:

Duff misremembered something that happened 30 years ago when the band was deep in drug and alcohol use

Misremembering being called and asked for permission? I personally don’t think so.  Misremembering who called for asking maybe. Maybe it wasn’t the writer directly who called Duff. Maybe it was some kind of management or employee and the writer is misremembering the situation. Maybe the writer wanted to use the name Duff for the reasons he is telling and somebody new that could force some legal issues, so they asked Duff if it’s ok using the name. Probably Duff just misunderstood the matter. The writer wanted to name the beer Duff because of loosers sitting on their asses. Somebody responsible for legal issues asked Duff for permission to use the name and Duff thought they’re gonna use it because he’s the king of beers. Nobody’s lying. Case closed.

Edited June 20 by Free Bird