So Sunday's episode of that cartoon that's not Family Guy was about "Mapple" stores and "Mypods" and "Steve Mobs." Get it? But in between all the fake ads for Apple products during the program, there was a MacBook ad and a commercial for the iPhone.

So hmm…is this one of those heavy-handed product placements that Jobs payed Matt Groening or Fox to do? Was the whole episode just an Apple commercial? And if so, why wouldn't Jobs do his own voice cameo?

Commercials for Apple have run during previous episodes of “The Simpsons.” The delicious juxtaposition this time — unbeknownst to Apple beforehand — prompted a call to Apple for comment.

Alas, as usually happens with the secretive company, the response was not exactly effusive. “We would decline to comment,” said a spokesman, Steve Dowling, at Apple in Cupertino, Calif.

Ah, great. Until you stop using your TiVos and Hulu to watch shows, these sort of "is it a commercial or is it an organic part of the show??" will keep blurring until every episode of House is just a 30-minute infomercial for Pfizer. Pfizer and Vitamin Water.