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In S06E12 Homer the Great (2F09), a childhood acquaintance (clearly not a childhood friend...) of Homer's wears a shirt with a logo comprised of two footprints:

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The same logo is seen on a shirt worn by Homer as a teenager in S07E24 Homerpalooza (3F21):

enter image description here

I'm not aware of any apparel brands it could be directly referencing - or making a parody of. Any ideas?

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    Need confirmation from creators, but I'm pretty sure it's a joke and reference in one. "Hang Ten" shirts were popular back in the day, but of course these shirts are "Hang Eight"
    – Turbo
    Commented Dec 5, 2022 at 3:04

1 Answer 1

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It's pretty clearly a reference to "Hang Ten," which was a trendy (U.S.) west coast clothing brand in the 1970s. Which is both when Groening was graduating university and approximately when Homer's flashbacks might be set.

There are vintage 1970s Hang Ten shirts for sale that look almost like those:

Yellow t-shirt with a Hang Ten footprints logo, 1970s vintage

(Hang Ten still exists and still sells t-shirts like that, but it's owned by a Hong Kong company.)

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    100% Simpsons is written by much older people than the average viewer but they feel free to throw in references that most of those viewers not only won't get but both won't realize there is even something to get and if they did, have no good way to look it up because it is purely visual. I suspect the verbal stuff is often ignored too, but the writers put it in for themselves and the more rare older viewers or non-lazy young ones like the poster here.
    – releseabe
    Commented Dec 5, 2022 at 18:54
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    "non-lazy young ones like the poster here." - I'll take that as a compliment ;)
    – Dai
    Commented Dec 5, 2022 at 19:13
  • @releseabe "written by much older people than the average viewer" .. but were they when they wrote this joke, 27 years ago? What would be the point anyway of only referencing pop culture over the past couple of years - it would rapidly age.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 6, 2022 at 12:48
  • @Tetsujin: new writers occasionally. the writers are certainly older than the kids who view the show, right? I am pretty sure the average age of viewers is below 21. My stance is what I stated above -- it will never change.
    – releseabe
    Commented Dec 6, 2022 at 13:21
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    @releseabe - I really don't know where you get the idea that The Simpsons is written for kids. It really isn't. It never has been. They've always aimed at the 18-49 category. The only authoritative quote I can find is from David Mirkin - medium.com/narrative-from-linear-media-to-interactive-media/… but there are many other less authoritative references to it being an adult show. IMDB rates it 15 (UK rating) [it shows your local country's rating, so idk what it would say in the states].
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 6, 2022 at 15:01

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