In the latest episode broadcast of the famous animated series Simpsons, there was a satirical NFT topic. So let’s find out with Weakhand how this whole story happened in this article.
Before jumping into the article, everyone can refer to some of the following articles to understand better.
- “Creepy” Predictions of the Simpsons Family & Crypto Market
- What are NFTs? All about NFTs
Overview of the Simpsons Family Cartoon
According to Wikipedia, The Simpsons is a famous American animated situation comedy television show, one of the longest-running shows, starting on December 17, 1989 on the network. Fox Network television until now. To date, the program has had 728 episodes.
Although it is an animated program, this program satirizes many aspects of life, especially the lifestyle of the working and middle class in America, American culture and American society in general. It has been shown in many countries around the world in many languages, and is considered one of the most important and influential popular culture exports of the United States.
The Simpsons Satire NFT, Springfield Punks Big Fomo
In this episode, Marge fights through Blockchain to rescue Bart – now a living NFT while the mayor announces that Springfield’s art gallery will be digitized. Additionally, there are many emerging blue-chip NFTs such as Beeple’s work, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and many other PFP NFTs that have proven to be nearly worthless. The show also introduced the speculative nature of some NFTs, Homer was initially shocked by Bart’s digitization but was later delighted that Bart’s NFT was worth $1.5 million.
But these quips have generally not had a negative impact on blue-chip NFTs. According to OpenSea data, the BAYC exchange price has increased slightly by 1.77% in the past 24 hours but is still a large distance from the peak. MAYC floor price increased by 1.25% in the last 24 hours. CryptoPunks exchange price decreased by 11.74% in the last 24 hours.
In contrast, the floor price of Springfield Punks’ “The Simpsons”-themed NFT series released by “The Simpsons” creator Rino Russo and open to free casting has experienced a rollercoaster ride of FOMO. OpenSea data shows that its floor price rose as high as 0.45 ETH and has now dropped to 0.12 ETH. It also perfectly recreated the speculative nature of the NFTs implemented in the last episode.
Noah Bolanowshi, an NFT collector and consultant for Crypt Gallery, also commented on the show’s depiction of NFTs. “I like the emphasis on art in this episode – most of the PFPs are of low status, while art is positioned on a noble level. They even let BAYC wash other people’s feet. They divide the NFT market into 3 categories. PFP is at the bottom of the category, then Cryptokitties, and finally the top digital artist Beeple Works.”
They split the NFT market into 3 parts of the blocktrain (lol).
PFPS were in the lowest class, then Cryptokitties, then digital art at the top (pictured). pic.twitter.com/4VXlqzfWOe
— NB (@Noahbolanowski) November 6, 2023
The Simpsons Have Satired Cryptocurrency Many Times
While the episode touched heavily on last year’s NFT market crash, this isn’t the first time the show has mentioned cryptocurrencies (or NFTs). In 2020, the Simpsons explained the workings of Blockchain and cryptocurrency in the episode “Frinkcoin” (S31, E13). In this episode, Professor Frink introduces Lisa Simpson to cryptocurrency through “TV’s most famous scientist, Mr. Jim Parsons” – who plays Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory. It also included an account book, revealing the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.
“For cryptocurrency to work, we need to record every transaction that occurs. They are recorded in what is called a distributed ledger. When you use currency, transactions are recorded on the ledger and When the ledger is filled, we add it to the previous set of ledgers – that’s the blockchain.”
This is not the first time Simpsons creator Matt Groening has mentioned cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Earlier this year, Futurama – another popular animated series produced by Matt Groening – also mocked cryptocurrency miners in an episode titled “What’s Like in the West 101001”.
The episode, which aired on Hulu on August 7, 2023, tells the story of a professor who tells his team that he borrowed money from the organized crime group Robot Mafia to invest in Bitcoin, then Crash group went bankrupt. In this episode, the time is set in 3023, people are still mining Bitcoin and even in the future Bitcoin is still unstable.
Some believe the episode was inspired by the classic Western book “How the West Was Conquered” which used part of the book to tell the story of pioneers traveling to the West, discovering gold in period “Gold Rush”. The number 101001 (81 in decimal) is said to refer to the 2018 Bitcoin crash when the cryptocurrency dropped 81%.
summary
With a satirical style mixed with humor, the Simpsons family remains one of the most attractive long-running films. The fact that the Simpsons family movie mentioned NFTs in a recent episode also shows the current state of the NFT market, regarding the problem of excessive speculation.