The Energizer Bunny
Energizer (Eveready)1989
The Energizer Bunny is a 1989 television campaign for Energizer, created by DDB (character) / TBWA\Chiat\Day (campaign).
Why it works
A parody that outlived everything it parodied. The pink, drum-beating bunny began as a one-off jab at Duracell's drumming-bunny ads, then TBWA\Chiat\Day found the format that made it immortal: the bunny barges through fake commercials for coffee, wine and nasal spray, interrupting advertising itself because "nothing outlasts the Energizer." Launched in 1989, it is studied as a landmark of meta-advertising — spoofing the clichés of every category in one campaign — and of mascot durability: thirty-plus years on, "like the Energizer Bunny" is standard American English for anything that will not quit. It also carries a strategy footnote taught alongside the creative one: Duracell kept the sales lead for years, proving fame and market share are separate battles.
Techniques
- Mascots and characters A drum-beating pink bunny that never stops becomes the living symbol of a battery that keeps on going.
- Humour The bunny barges through spoof commercials for coffee, wine and nasal spray, parodying the clichés of advertising itself.
- Comparison Parodies Duracell's drumming-bunny ads, borrowing the rival's own imagery to take a swipe at it.
Sources · 3
Updated
