Energizer Bunny
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The Energizer Bunny is the marketing icon and mascot of Energizer batteries in North America. It is a pink, toy rabbit wearing sunglasses and blue and white striped sandals that beats a bass drum, bearing the Energizer logo. It is a parody of the preexistant Duracell Bunny, seen in Europe and Australia. It has been appearing in television commercials in North America since 1989. The Energizer Bunny does not appear in some parts of Europe (it has recently been introduced to the UK) and Australia. In Australia the mascot for Energizer is a muscle-bound anthropomorphic battery. The mascot is promoted as being able to continue operating indefinitely, or at least much longer than similar toys using rival brands' batteries.
[edit] Background
The American Energizer commercials, produced by DDB Chicago Advertising, originally began as a parody of TV advertisements for rival Duracell. In the Duracell ads, a set of battery-powered drum-playing toy pink rabbits (Duracell Bunnies) gradually slow to a halt until only the toy powered by a copper-top battery remains active. In Energizer's parody, the Energizer Bunny then enters the screen beating a huge bass drum and swinging a mallet over his head. The criticism was that Duracell compared their batteries with carbon batteries, and not similar alkaline batteries like Energizer.[1] The creative team at DDB Chicago who conceived and designed the bunny chose All Effects special effects company to build the original Energizer Bunny, a remotely operated vehicle. All Effects operated the Energizer Bunny in most of its first commercials[citation needed]. Later commercials were made by Industrial Light & Magic.
As the series progressed, realistic-looking commercials were aired for fictional products (such as "Sitagin Hemorrhoid Remedy", "Nasotine Sinus Relief", "TresCafe Coffee", etc.) only to have the Bunny march through. To date, the Energizer Bunny has appeared in more than 115 television commercials.[2] In these commercials, a voiceover would announce one of various slogans used throughout the years; all of them would relate the stalwartness of the Energizer Bunny to the long-lasting power of their batteries. The original slogan boasted that "...[n]othing outlasts the Energizer...", but it was eventually changed after a lawsuit filed by Duracell disputing Energizer's claim.[3] In 1992 through 1994, Energizer ran a series of commercials featuring a fake rival battery, Supervolt (including a Supervolt weasel mascot), that was an obvious look alike of Duracell.
In 1991, Energizer unsuccessfully sued the Adolph Coors Company for creating a parody of its Energizer bunny ads.[4]
In North America, the term "Energizer Bunny" has entered the vernacular as a term for anything that continues indefatigably while in Europe and Australia the term "Duracell Bunny" has a similar connotation. Several U.S. presidential candidates have compared themselves to the bunny, including President George H. W. Bush in 1992 and Howard Dean in 2000.[5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ YouTube - Energizer Bunny - Introduction - 1989
- ^ History of the Energizer Bunny Energizer.com - Retrieved: July 5, 2007
- ^ Pott, Carol (Ed.), (2005). The Blue Pages: A Directory of Companies Rated by Their Politics and Practices. Polipoint Press, (Heading under Energizer Holdings, Inc.)
- ^ "Trade Marks and Human Rights". http://www.ncl.ac.uk/nuls/research/wpapers/maniatis1.htm. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ Associated Press (2008-11-29). "Still going and going: Energizer Bunny enters his 20th year". http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2008-11-29-energizer-bunny_N.htm?csp=34. Retrieved on 2008-11-29.
