While The Simpsons season 34, the comedy show is a tremendously successful sitcom. Where many smaller shows might struggle to woo A-list celebrities for a brief cameo, The Simpsons has featured all manner of impressive guest stars over the years thanks to its cultural cachet. As a result, it stands to reason that a popular satirical series like The Simpsons would be unafraid to mock most real-life public figures, brands, and famous phenomena.
However, for one reason or another, this has not always been the case. Instead, while the show does reference real people and brands from time to time, The Simpsons just as often uses made-up soundalike brands and sometimes even fake celebrity stand-ins. A famous case of this would be Rainier Wolfcastle, a Teutonic strongman turned actor who is pretty clearly a parody of 80s action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Where other animated comedy shows like South Park, Family Guy, Rick and Morty, and American Dad will usually explicitly mock real-life celebrities and brands, The Simpsons typically create a soundalike to stand in for the real deal, usually making this into its own joke. In The Simpsons season 34, episode 2, the show unexpectedly addressed this, as Homer called the show's fictional “Pedalon” exercise bike a "Peloton," then quickly corrected himself, only to look directly at the camera and say, “you know what I mean.” It was a bizarre moment of fourth-wall-breaking humor that proved The Simpsons is aware of how strange its transparent soundalike parodies sound when satirizing brands and people are usually protected from accusations of copyright infringement.
Why The Simpsons Uses Soundalikes Of Real Brands And People
The most obvious reason that The Simpsons uses soundalikes is for comedic effect, with the names of the show’s brands often being comedic puns. However, there is another, more important factor in the choice to use soundalikes, an issue epitomized in the classic Simpsons/X-Files crossover episode. While “The Springfield Files” (season 8, episode 10) was critically acclaimed, the episode's success relied on stars like David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Leonard Nimoy appearing on the show, as well as the creators of The X-Files allowing The Simpsons to use their characters. If the show had mocked any of these actors or their work before, these guest appearances could be harder to come by.
While The Simpsons is incredibly famous and has been since its early seasons, the series has struggled to get guest stars on occasion. Famously, The Simpsons was rejected thrice by Bruce Springsteen and, as such, the show may avoid mocking brands and celebrities to avoid losing out on future work with them. This explains the existence of Rainier Wolfcastle, since The Simpsons attempted to get Schwarzenegger to cameo in season 4 of the series before the opportunity fell through. Much like The Simpsons used Sideshow Bob to mock the TV industry without seeming excessively bitter or breaking the fourth wall, the show also uses soundalike brands and celebrities to avoid losing out on future guests and rs. Given the show's propensity for guest stars, it would explain why The Simpsons is so reticent around mentioning real-life names while the show's competition is much more loose-lipped.