Posted on 02/02/2005 7:50:23 AM PST by Dallas59
BRISBANE, Australia - A woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to selling on eBay three nonexistent cases of Duff brand beer — the favorite of cartoon character Homer Simpson.
Tara Edith Woodford, 28, pleaded guilty in the Mackay Magistrates Court in northern Queensland state to three charges of dishonestly gaining money by false pretenses.
Prosecutor Gavin Burnett told the court Woodford was paid a total of 1,951 Australian dollars (U.S. $1,511) by three separate buyers after advertising the bogus beer on the eBay Internet auction site.
Duff is the beer brand of choice for Homer Simpson and his barfly friends in the animated U.S. television series The Simpsons.
In the mid-1990s, two breweries released their own "Duff Beer" in Australia until legal action by the creators of The Simpsons and the Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. took the beer off the market. Fox has a policy of refusing to license The Simpson's merchandising for products that would be detrimental to children.
Duff beer is now a collector's item and cases can sell for as much as A$1,000 (U.S. $774) on eBay, according to Lorraine Gledhill, the treasurer of the National Beer Can Collectors Club.
Buyers paid money into Woodford's bank account, but contacted police when they never received the beer.
Woodford was caught because she listed her correct name and address on the auction site, the court was told.
Woodford's lawyer Phillip Moore said she committed the scam to buy Christmas presents and clothes for her four children.
Woodford was placed on 18 months' probation, and was ordered to reimburse the money and undergo counseling.
DOUGH... the stuff... that buys me beer...
RAY ..... the guy that sells me beer...
ME...... the guy...who drinks the beer,
FAR..... the distance to my beer.
SO...... I think I'll have a beer.
LA...... La, la la la la beer
TEA..... no thanks, I'm drinking beer...
That will bring us back to...
(Looks into an empty glass)
D'OH!
Tell that to the Adolph Coors Company. They continue to market "Coors Light"
If it's any consolation, the brewmaster who came up with Coor's Light was fired.
My Sister worked in Golden for Coors in the 70's. Immediately after Miller Light hit the market, a brewmeister at Coors came up with Coor's Light on his own initiative.
According to legend, the powers that must be obeyed, chewed him out for wasting time and materials, stating that Coor's didn't need a light beer because the flagship product was already 'light'.
At some later date, after union problems and Miller Lite had eaten some serious market share, they released Coor's Light.
I have no idea what happened to the guy who first brewed it up.
Is there still a collectors market for Billy Beer and JR Beer?
I also have a case of baseballs autographed by the 1994 World Series winners......
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