Was One of the Best ‘Simpsons’ Episodes Inspired by a Candy Commercial?
One of the most iconic moments in the history of The Simpsons was “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” The two-part, season-bridging cliffhanger became a cultural totem back in the summer of 1995, challenging viewers to solve the mystery of which Springfieldian tried to bump off the town’s oldest and evilest resident. One lucky amateur detective, we were told, would win “the prize of a lifetime”: an animated cameo in the show.
The shooter turned out to be Maggie (although some fans still aren’t convinced), but unfortunately, the contest was less about deduction, and more about using 1-800-COLLECT, so the winner ended up being some rando who didn’t watch the show and opted to take a cash prize in lieu of achieving cartoon immortality.
While “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” is remembered for its uniquely engaging gimmick, it wasn’t all that dissimilar from an earlier mystery-based contest that also involved The Simpsons.
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In 1993, two years before Mr. Burns’ near-death experience, the show’s longtime corporate partner Butterfinger launched a campaign involving a stolen candy bar. In the first commercial, an unidentified thief breaks into Bart’s room, cracks open his wall safe and steals a Butterfinger. Instead of just buying a new, likely better chocolate bar, Bart rings up Chief Wiggum and files a criminal complaint.
The commercial went on to explain that a grand prize of $50,000 would go to one lucky fan who picked the crook from a lineup of six suspects: Mr. Burns, Lisa, Otto, Krusty the Clown, Nelson and Homer. Five of the six suspects had alibis, which could be found on the inside of Butterfinger wrappers. Nelson, for example, was busy torturing Milhouse, and Otto was getting a tattoo.
So anyone who ate enough Butterfingers could piece together which character was missing an alibi (provided they didn’t fall into a diabetic coma first).
The follow-up commercial at first seemed to suggest that the culprit was Homer, but it turned out to be Krusty wearing a Mission: Impossible-esque Homer mask. Why a celebrity clown needed to break into a small child’s bedroom in order to procure a small amount of chocolate was never explained.
The Simpsons team has never confirmed that “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” was in any way inspired by the Butterfinger promotion; according to the writers, Matt Groening simply suggested doing a “publicity stunt” using “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” as an example off the top of his head. Presumably he wanted them to come up with something more “proactive.”
Still, the similarities between the two events are undeniable. Come to think of it, in addition to the mystery-contest idea, “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” turned out to also be a story about an adult attempting to steal candy from a minor.
