BANKIE'S HOT TAKE #117: The Simpsons x Butterfinger Ads of the 1990s
- Mar 4
- 4 min read
A few weeks ago, our fearless leader on Hardway HQ wrote a blog about how the CRAZY EDDIE commercials from the 1970s and 1980s were the most innovative and aggressive marketing plans of all time. To be honest, they were. However, as a ‘90s kid, I have a different perspective.
Although the McDonaldland commercials were my favorites as a kid, the pinnacle of fantastic commercials throughout the 1990s to me were The Simpsons ads for Butterfinger.
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I think Mama Bruce would go and say that Butterfingers were my favorite candy bar as a child. To this day, for my Christmas stocking, there is always a bag of Butterfinger Minis in there.
What’s not to love about Butterfinger? It’s a thick peanut butter wafer coated in chocolate. For kids, it’s filling and delicious. For adults, you could claim, since there is peanut butter inside, that it’s protein.
At least that’s what I tell myself.
Anyways, as I go back into my childhood, I think about what attracted me to Butterfingers, other than the tasty nature of them. And then, thanks to the greatness of YouTube, it hit me.
I was checking out old Simpsons clips and I came across a commercial for Butterfingers back from the mid-1990s. I clicked on it and it just brought me back.
I was Simpsons obsessed in the 1990s.
Whether every Sunday at 8 on FOX or during the week at 6:00 and 6:30 PM on Fox 5 New York, The Simpsons were on. For a cartoon, the show touched upon a lot of different topics, as well as having some of the quickest humor around. I was obsessed with the Bart and Sideshow Bob saga, the infamous Dancin’ Homer, “the Homer” automobile, and wanting more of Poochie on Itchy & Scratchy. I had the toys from Burger King, bought the Mayor Quimby collector set, and wore out The Simpsons : A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family book until it fell apart.
You don’t want to know how I acted at 38 years old when I went to Universal Studios Hollywood and marveled over Simpsons World.
Anyways, seeing this commercial, I had to go back and see how many Simpsons ads were made for Butterfinger. Thankfully, Antonio Volante put together a compilation of all of them.
Compared to today’s advertisements, Butterfinger, similar to McDonalds, made sure every single one was creative and full of soul. The touch of passion behind these ads made Butterfingers a must-buy at the corner store for me.
After the initial commercials for the original Butterfinger were wildly successful, starting in 1988, Bart Simpson made an impact with other Butterfinger products, including ice cream bars and, my personal favorite, the Butterfinger BB’s, which were sphere-shaped Butterfingers, in 1992.
The catchphrase for Butterfinger throughout the ‘90s were “Nobody Better Lay A Finger On My Butterfinger”. To me, that’s an all-time classic line.
The 1990s were peak for both The Simpsons and Butterfinger. Sales were through the roof, as well as anything Simpsons related had the golden Midas touch. It was of peak popularity for both.
Also, during the research of this article, I learned that Milhouse Van Houten was solely created for the Butterfinger advertisements. However, due to the success of these commercials, Milhouse became a regular Simpsons character and a beloved underdog.
Once the year 2000 hit, Butterfinger tried to modify the tag line two separate times: “Bite My Butterfinger” and “Nothin’ Like A Butterfinger”, plus cutting the time-length down to fifteen seconds. By the end of 2001, the Simpsons and Butterfinger partnership ended, and, to teenage nerd Bankie, was the end of an era. When Butterfinger BB’s were discontinued in 2009, it really felt as if a piece of my childhood died.
But, as marketing and advertising is, new ideas have to continue to formulate through the pipeline, and they never change. Ironically enough to me, The Simpsons and Butterfinger were never the same after those commercials ended.
Although the show is still on the air and among the greatest programs ever, there’s a bit missing from the “golden era” of Seasons 1-9. Also, I learned that Butterfinger was sold from Nestle to Italian chocolatier Ferrero SpA in 2018 and had its formula changed at the beginning of 2019. They are thinner than the 1990s bars. Still good, but not the same.
Our fearless leader, once knowing that I was writing an article on it, decided to go out and have a regular Butterfinger bar for the first time in years. As Jon stated to me, “It’s still good.”
He just loves sweets.
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The phrase “right place, right time” is sometimes overused in life. However, as it comes to The Simpsons Butterfinger commercials, it was perfect timing. Both the candy and the cartoon grew to legendary status, and they are still memorable to this very day. In fact, I dare say that the commercials might have made Bart Simpson into a timeless character that will never be forgotten through the annals of time.
As much as I try, these ads make me longer for a happier, better time. It truly was “right place, right time”.
Bankie Bruce
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