It keeps going, and going, and going….
When you think “advertising icon,” who immediately comes to mind?
Most would say Jolly Green Giant (and Sprout!), the Hawaiian Punch Guy, Toucan Sam, Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Snap Crackle and Pop, so on and so forth. It is a list that is dominated by colorful cartoon-type characters, whose images and catchphrases stick with us. They’re icons because they’ve been around for many years and have ingrained themselves into our culture.
Today’s advertising icon of a more modern era actually came out of a parody of the competition’s advertising, and like the aforementioned icons above, still finds himself (herself?) ingrained in our public consciousness – and current advertising – to this very day.
Like I said, it all started as a parody, and became the Pink Nightmare it is now.
The good kind of nightmare, of course. Not the bad kind. Unless you hate repetition to drive home the message of an advertisement. Then in that case…
The Energizer Bunny marched to the beat of his own drum when he made his debut in national advertising on October 30, 1988, parodying Duracell’s “Drumming Bunny” commercial from the 1970s.
This commercial flipped the script to show that so many drumming bunnies running on the competition’s batteries don’t stand a chance against Energizer’s sunglass-wearing, flip flop-clad drumming pink bunny.
Here’s that original commercial!
After crushing the competition at their battery-powered game, Energizer Bunny left the confines of the studio filming his commercial, finding his way through other (fake) product placements, and continuing to star in his own commercials throughout the 1990s. From 1993 until 1995, the Bunny starred in a story arc-style campaign where his main competitor was the fictional “Supervolt” battery, with a weasel mascot toting that “brand” (a sendup of Duracell’s original bunnies). The fake commercials he crashed gave way to real-brand crossovers, and more than 115 advertisements featured the Energizer Bunny.
He’s still the mascot for Energizer, he’s still pink, fluffy, and sporting shades and flip flops, and like the brand of battery in his back, he keeps going, and going, and…
Well, you know.
He totally stopped the copper top!
Have a fantastic Flashback Friday, and a great weekend!