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OFF BEAT: D'oh! Brew makers ordered to stop selling Duff beer

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As any true Simpsons fan knows, “Duffman says a lot of things.” One wonders, though, what he’d say about two Colombian businessmen’s dispute with 20th Century Fox over their efforts to produce a version of Homer Simpson’s beverage of choice, particularly as they now suggest their brew is actually named DuH, not Duff.

According to reports, in 2006 brothers Alvaro and Oscar Ballesteros decided to produce their own version of Homer’s beloved Duff Beer, founding Duff Sudamerica in Bogota the next year and registering the trademark in 2008. They brewed their first Duffs in 2009, and now sell the beer in Bogota and seven other Colombian cities, as well as in Brazil and Chile.

But 20th Century Fox Film Corp.—which holds the rights to the Simpsons—sued the brothers for copyright infringement in Colombia, at which point the brothers reportedly claimed the beer was no longer called Duff but DuH, the two fs on the label actually forming the letter h.

Not swayed by the Ballesteros brothers’ typographical argument, Colombian regulators last week sided with 20th Century Fox, ordering that production, distribution and sales of the beer be stopped in Colombia.

Reports indicated the Ballesteros brothers plan to appeal the ruling. Meanwhile, there was no word on whether they have plans to market a libation called the Flaming Moe. Or would that be a Flaming Homer? Or a D’oh!?

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