The long-running cartoon series “The Simpsons,” which is renowned for parodying many facets of American culture, finally targeted the struggling NFT sector on Sunday.
In one scene from the 34th annual Halloween-themed “Treehouse of Horror” anthology series, Homer unintentionally mints Bart as an NFT on “the blockchain,” which sets off an audacious rescue operation with several uncannily familiar designs and NFT ecosystem characters.
The episode, which mocks the NFT hoopla and makes references to a variety of topics like the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Doodles, Beeple, Dmitri Cherniak’s “Ringers,” and much more, is summarized here.
Homer’s Views on the Worth of NFTs
Homer is saddened to learn that he has turned his kid into an NFT and has destroyed his physical body—until he discovers that NFT is the first-ever product manufactured from a real human and is valued at $1.5 million.
Following that, a jubilant Homer tries to persuade his spouse Marge that the decision was the right one.
“Honey, remember how we were always saying we wished Bart was less fungible?” he asks her.
However, Marge is not amused by this development and becomes alarmed upon seeing Bart on Homer’s phone screen.
“Aaahhh! My baby is an app!” Marge exclaims.
Homer quickly corrects her: “Uh, no, apps actually do stuff. He’s an NFT.”
Marge Faces the NFT-Verse’s Lower Class
Marge soon mints herself as an NFT, determined to save her kid. She soon learns that there is a rigid hierarchy in “the blockchain,” as she refers to it, ranging from the most well-known and valuable tokens to the forgotten and now-worthless ones.
She finds herself at the back of the actual train that represents this hierarchy, where she comes across several NFTs that remind her of NBA Top Shot moments, Doodles, Axie Infinity, and CryptoPunks—all of which have had significant obstacles or value declines within the last 18 months.
It quickly becomes clear to us that the train Marge is riding on—which is carrying all NFTs—is run entirely on FOMO, a hyperactive, propellant energy source that, as the program finally exposes, is capable of collapsing at any time.
The train is moving along with a hearty dose of FOMO, according to the meter: “Uber driver says ‘go for it.'”
Marge finds a group of “Cuddle Kittens” in the train’s next compartment, which is purportedly for somewhat more precious NFTs. These are obviously stand-ins for the CryptoKitties NFT collection. According to NFT Stats, the average price of CryptoKitties, which in 2021 sold for thousands of dollars apiece, is currently $19.
These cats teach Marge that killing as many other NFTs as she can will raise her own worth as an NFT. “What you call mindless slaughter, crypto bros call ‘disruption,'” as one Cuddle Kitten puts it.
Upon reaching the front of the NFT train, Marge discovers herself in a sophisticated corridor filled with millions of dollars’ worth of digital artwork. The works she comes across are blatant imitations of authentic on-chain artwork, such as Dmitri Cherniak’s generative “Ringers” series, “A Coin For the Ferryman” by XCOPY, and Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 500 Days” and “Human One.”
She also discovers Bart getting a massage from a “Jaded Ape”—a clear allusion to the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which the writers of “The Simpsons” believe to be still one of the most valuable NFT collections still in existence.
Several of the artists mentioned in the scene celebrated the allusions on Twitter, stating that they thought they were flattering.
After the long-running cartoon television show mocked NFTs in a special episode, an NFT collection that blends CryptoPunks’ aesthetics with parts of “The Simpsons” shot to the #1 trending place on OpenSea, garnering over $2.5 million in sales in less than 24 hours.
On Sunday, the unauthorized Springfield Punks collection emerged as a free mint, and traders quickly grabbed hold of the 3,405 Ethereum NFTs. The OpenSea marketplace indicates that 1,311 ETH, or more than $2.4 million, have changed hands in the project since then. On the secondary market, Springfield Punks NFTs are now trading for slightly less than 0.11 ETH, or around $200.
Springfield Punks, a self-described parody artist, went live on Sunday night. Rino Russo started the group. As of this writing, the collection’s daily volume trailed behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (2,412 ETH) and CryptoPunks (1,893 ETH).
Other Simpsons-themed projects that had an influence on OpenSea’s main page were “The Chimpsons Official,” “Springfield Apes by Rino Russo,” and “SimpsPunks,” among other NFT collections that seemed to draw inspiration from “The Simpsons.”
A lot of profile photo (PFP) NFT projects seem like the end product, but the iconic comedy is known for its donuts, beer, and blue-beehive hairstyles. Thousands of animals that resemble simians have a kaleidoscope of “Simpsons”-themed graphics randomly placed over them in both situations.
Despite the fact that “The Chimpsons Official” was founded in September of last year, it commanded a prominent place following Sunday’s show. According to OpenSea, since then, it has generated about 600 sales over 6,996 “Champsons.”
The collection’s floor price, or the least expensive NFT from a collection that is up for grabs, increased dramatically over night, from 0.03 ETH ($6) to 0.44 ETH ($840). According to OpenSea, Chimpsons were trading hands at about 0.01 ETH ($19) at the time of writing.
The Sunday episode of “The Simpsons” honored several well-known NFT collections, such as Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, but two notable projects—the Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks—were given noticeable cameos.
The Sunday episode of “The Simpsons” honored several well-known NFT collections, such as Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, but two notable projects—the Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks—were given noticeable cameos.
