Bart and Lisa win the race to the front of the plane and get upgraded to first class.
Lisa: Bart, they’re going to pamper us!
Bart: Gasps in horror
Lisa: rolls her eyes Not literally!
I don’t get the joke 
put in diapers?
I agree with diapers. I don’t know where you are, but here in North America, Pampers is a brand of diapers.
Pampers is one of those that were first to hit the American market. It’s a very well known brand.
Um, maybe? The diaper thing seems a stretch. I think maybe you guys are misinterpreting it. To “pamper” is literally to overfeed, to cram with food, perhaps beyond the point of comfort and health. That seems a little odd too, but I dunno. Maybe some more context would help?
If you think that’s what has Bart concerned, you’re the one misinterpreting.
Yeah, actually, on second thought, I retract what I said. The diaper thing is probably right. At least, Internet searches for the quote indicate a lot of people taking it that way.
I don’t really buy the diaper thing. When was the last time you heard someone use the phrase “to pamper” and mean that they are going to put diapers on something?
No more context is available. The Flight Attendant comes on the PA and says that due to overbooking two seats are available in first class. She goes on to say that according to regulation the first two people to the front get the seats. Bart and Lisa win the race, and the FA says “O.K., you two”. Then the lines in the OP are said.
Sure, the joke is a stretch but the diaper explanation is the only show in town, it’s the only explanation that makes sense. (Taking to pamper literally, ie showering Bart with attention to the point of discomfort, is an even bigger stretch).
Never, but Bart doesn’t know that. He hears the word “pamper” and associates it only with what he knows: diapers.
GuanoLad nailed it. Put that way, the gag isn’t even a stretch.
I concur with the diaper thing. When I was a kid my mom said stuff like “poopy pampers” and “put the pamper on the baby” all the time.
Pampering, to some, is pretty much the same as “xeroxing” or “googling.”
Definitely diapers.
That’s the subtle twist in the joke, I think - he thinks the ‘literal’ meaning of pamper is something to do with diapers (implying, perhaps, that he would consider the real meaning to be a derivative of the product name).
Yeah, watch a show like The First 48 and you’ll hear things like “He was a good daddy, he always kept our baby in pampers”. It’s a synonym for “diapers”, although one that probably doesn’t please the people who police the “Pampers” trademark.
Bart definitely knows what Pampers are from this exchange from Boy Scouts N the Hood:
Nelson: What’s in the bag, wuss? [grabs it from Bart]
Oh, look: [contemptuously] Campers’ Pampers. Heh.
Isn’t there a term for former brand names that become generic terms- aspirin and xerox for other examples?
Eponyms?
Or more specifically, ‘proprietary eponyms’.
The trend in today’s television is product placement, because many viewers record shows and zip past the real ads. In other words, if a character said Pampers®, then Pampers paid for the mention.