Honestly, who can resist The Simpsons?
Now, more than three decades into its run, The Simpsons has evolved to the point where it’s almost hard to consider it the same show as it was during its early years.
Yet, aside from the iconic characters and the familiar Springfield setting, one element has remained consistent throughout the show’s history – its opening credits.
From Bart’s antics at the chalkboard to the iconic couch gags, many fans can recite these scenes by memory.
This familiarity makes it surprising that an Easter Egg hidden midway through the montage often goes unnoticed. This occurs when Marge places her cherished daughter Maggie at the grocery store checkout scanner.
This Easter Egg is not a deep or lore-heavy revelation – Maggie is not secretly a robot with a barcode. Instead, it’s a subtle nod to a real-world statistic cleverly worked into the animated TV show.
In The Simpsons’ early episodes, when Maggie is scanned, the cash register charges Marge $847.63 (£683). According to show creator Matt Groening, there is a specific reason for this amount.
The $847.63 figure was the estimated monthly cost of raising a child in the United States back in 1989, the year The Simpsons premiered.
This inside joke has evolved over the years, as the 1989 figure became outdated. In more recent years, Maggie simply doubles the total shopping bill, increasing the price from $243.26 (£196) to $486.52 (£392) when she is scanned. This change likely highlights the significant cost of having a young child without tying the show to a specific figure that quickly becomes outdated.
Learning the backstory of why Maggie ‘costs’ what she does has intrigued X (formerly Twitter) users over the years, with the well-known account Uber Facts frequently sharing this Easter Egg online.
One individual commented on Uber Facts, expressing, “I’ve always wondered about that. Not kidding.”
Others couldn’t help but note how much the cost of raising a child has risen since the show first aired.
“That’s one month of daycare for an infant (if you’re lucky),” one fan pointed out.
As of 2023, the average monthly expense of raising a child reached $1,334 (£1,046), and it appears this figure will continue to rise over time.