The Simpsons roasts NFTs in new Halloween special
The animated television series The Simpsons spent an entire segment mocking nonfungible tokens (NFTs) during the latest 34th annual “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween special, in a segment called “Wild Barts Can’t Be Token.”
In the special, Homer accidentally mints Bart on the blockchain, and in the ensuing scenes, the creators poke fun at NFTs, all while referencing collections such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Doodles as well as viral digital artist Beeple.
Get ready for a non-fungible night in tomorrow’s #TreehouseOfHorror XXXIV on @FOXTV, next day on @hulu. pic.twitter.com/Y4cSiyp4kD
— The Simpsons (@TheSimpsons) November 4, 2023
The special revolved around poking fun at the speculative nature of NFTs and how the market is largely fueled by the fear of missing out, FOMO.
Once Marge discovers that Bart has become trapped on-chain, she too digitizes herself as an NFT. She battles her way through carriages on a virtual train — which is literally powered by FOMO — to rescue Bart, fighting NFT-themed characters all the while.
The final joke lands when Homer finally gives into FOMO and mints himself as NFT. The second he does so, the train runs out of steam, and the prices of all the NFTs plunge to near-zero, ending the episode with his iconic catchphrase, “Doh!”
Despite essentially being the punchline of an episode-long joke, the NFT community on Crypto Twitter reacted with delight, with Beeple saying that his work appearing on the show was a “bucket list moment” for him as an artist.
Notably, The Simpsons’ creators even parodied their own NFT collection, Golden Moments, which was first offered in conjunction with Disney+ by the NFT platform VeVe in November 2021.
“We saw that,” wrote the official account for Veve.
We saw that @TheSimpsons pic.twitter.com/nBAQEjJmyp
— VeVe | Digital Collectibles (@veve_official) November 6, 2023
Degens cash in on The Simpsons’ NFT episode
NFT enthusiasts certainly didn’t let The Simpsons’ roast…
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