‘Simpsons’ Writer Denies Duff McKagan’s Influence on Beer Name
There’s been a different volley in the seemingly endless back-and-forth in between Duff McKagan and The Simpsons creators more than the inspiration for Duff Beer — this time from original show writer and producer Jay Kogen, who has but once again denied any connection to the Guns N’ Roses bassist.
McKagan reignited the debate final week, telling Stereogum: “So I was Duff, the King of Beers. But this is 1988, 1989 and our management, I remember they called me and said some arthouse-like cartoon wants to use your name as the beer, like a college arthouse cartoon. There weren’t any adult cartoons at this point.
“I did not know about branding or something like that, but that show took off,” McKagan continued. “And then they began promoting merch and stuff. I in no way went following him, but I’m like, ‘Hey, motherfuckers,’ you know?”
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Jay Kogen’s Response to Duff McKagan’s Duff Beer Claims
Kogen recently denied McKagan’s influence over Duff Beer, telling TMZ that the reasoning behind the name was not that deep. “We named it Duff due to the fact it is a synonym for butt, tushy, booty and so on,” he said. “Duff is a beer for folks who sat on their fat ass all day.”
Furthermore, Kogen said The Simpsons writers and producers at the time didn’t know any members of Guns N’ Roses besides Axl Rose. Keeping in mind that Appetite for Destruction had already sold 8 million copies by the time The Simpsons debuted in December 1989, that might not be something to proudly advertise. It seems unbelievable that one of the most pop-culturally astute writing teams in television history wasn’t at least familiar with iconic top-hatted guitarist Slash by that point.
Nevertheless, Kogen is sticking to his guns (pun intended). “It’s extremely weird this Duff McKagan guy desires to claim credit for Duff Beer,” he told TMZ. “He had zero to do with it.”
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Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening