Shameless Duracell advertising

Duracell is very shameless in promoting their batteries, to try to hold up their market premium versus other batteries.

I saw this ad recently link, and had to rewind my DVR to listen to the ad again. I couldn't believe how shameless the Duracell marketing department has sunk.

Summary - they delivered (I think donated) Duracell batteries to the Mattel Children's hospital in UCLA, for, *drums*, use in the children's toys. That would be a noble cause, if they weren't so shamelessly going to try to make a buck off that. And wow, using them in toys really proves the superiority of Duracell batteries!

I guess they're hoping if someone wasn't paying attention, they'd assume that the Mattel children's hospital uses Duracell for more mission critical needs than toys (the ad shows a hospital bed and nursing staff, implying Duracell use in those devices).

I have a friend who is a surgeon, and he brings home the batteries they use in surgery all the time. This is because the operating room uses very cheap alkaline batteries (the kind you might see at the dollar store). They use the cheapies during the surgery, and toss them afterwards. My friend just takes them home to use since it's a waste of these batteries. You don't see Duracell advertising that fact LOL.

(the ad shows a hospital bed and nursing staff, implying Duracell use in those devices).

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Nurses run off of Duracells?:thinking:

But seriously, I have seen that commercial a lot, and I agree, the batteries are powering toys, how does that prove their superiority? Plus it is like they are trying to show off how great of a company they are by being charitable. I always thought if you helped somebody out you shouldn't brag about it...

To be fair, all commercials tend to overexaggerate things and a company's often cheesy marketing department usually has nothing to do with their often brilliant engineering department.

Remember the energizer commercials depicting a battery powered bunny that outran Olympic athletes, climbed snowy summits and swam across oceans?
Oh heck, why not mention the miracle skin products that'll take you 15 years back, the deodorants that turned guys into chick magnets, the home gyms that can turn a beer gut into chuck Norris, and my personal favorite: the window washer that'll shine your glass door so clean that birds and idiots splat into them on a regular basis.

the window washer that'll shine your glass door so clean that birds and idiots splat into them on a regular basis.

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This is way OT, but the only time a bird has ever flown into a window of my house (while I was at home) it flew into a very dirty window. On top of that, it was a storm door with a dark brown wooden door behind it. I guess it was just a stupid bird...

Marketing departments are full of smart cookies. They know how to be subtle and play the heart strings of their target audience. They are sneaky, crafty, wiley, shameless shills who get paid mega bucks to project an image of a product onto and into the target population. And if they are a good outside advertising company, well, then they may well have a roster of psychologists and behavioral specialists who take the task very seriously indeed. "The Advertising Industry: It's sicker then you thought." :sick2:

Donate $5,000 worth of batteries, spend $5,000,000 on commercials to tell people about it? I've seen this time of thing before. Shameless indeed.

Hey guys, it's called "marketing", and anyone can do it, including Sanyo or Eveready or whomever.

I hope we're not going to get into one of those "evil corporation" threads where government is supposed to come in and "fix" something that isn't broken.

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Zenster ... a proud and shameless Capitalist who knows that the entire Free World was built and succeeded upon Capitalist principles, and that when business is stifled, so are people's freedoms.

mmmmm... yes... evil corporation thread..... yummmy....

I guess what bugs me about those commercials is they are often referencing situations that use duracell batteries, they imply that you are buying those same batteries when you go to the grocery store, but I guarantee you the duracell you buy at the grocery store and the duracell found in a $350,000 video camera or on a space ship are slightly different. Duracell probably has nothing more than their NAME on the LABEL of a few LI-Ion or NIMH packs used in some specialized gear out there, then they tote about it, implying that you too can harness the gospel of the glory of the power almighty and holy wondrous flaming epic godlike battery,.. Did I mention they come across a little "over the top?"

Because the batteries found in some of that specialized gear they mention, and the batteries that the consumer is aware of and assumes they are talking about are very different, it could be said that they are false advertising. While they aren't exactly, it is still very misleading to the average consumer and may leave them with the impression that the "duracell alkaline" is something much more special than it really is... Should a government step in? Only if Duracells actions are in violation of the individuals rights... I don't think a human right is "the right to accurate information and fair advertising on their televisions" so the government can stay out of it.... I would like to see more companies step up and point out the stupidity of their competitions advertisements.

Zenster said:

Hey guys, it's called "marketing", and anyone can do it, including Sanyo or Eveready or whomever.

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Agreed, but it can still be unimaginative, tasteless and exploitive, especially when it's done on the backs of sick children.

I would much rather see more campaigns like this one:

Don't mess with Texas

The automobile mfrs. would sponsor racing team(s), knowing this:


Win on Sunday. Sell on Monday.


Even though "everyone" knows there is little in common between the Race Car,
and its counterpart sittin' in the Dealer's Showroom.


Marketing. Image. It's a powerful tool.

___ :devil:
_

jugg2 said:

Nurses run off of Duracells?:thinking:

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Only in Japan.

Zenster said:

I hope we're not going to get into one of those "evil corporation" threads where government is supposed to come in and "fix" something that isn't broken.
Zenster ... a proud and shameless Capitalist who knows that the entire Free World was built and succeeded upon Capitalist principles, and that when business is stifled, so are people's freedoms.

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Thank you Zenster.

kongfuchicken said:

To be fair, all commercials tend to overexaggerate things and a company's often cheesy marketing department usually has nothing to do with their often brilliant engineering department.

Remember the energizer commercials depicting a battery powered bunny that outran Olympic athletes, climbed snowy summits and swam across oceans?
Oh heck, why not mention the miracle skin products that'll take you 15 years back, the deodorants that turned guys into chick magnets, the home gyms that can turn a beer gut into chuck Norris, and my personal favorite: the window washer that'll shine your glass door so clean that birds and idiots splat into them on a regular basis.

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At least those are kinda amusing the first time you see them.

LED-holic said:

Duracell is very shameless in promoting their batteries....

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That's nothing. When I read the topic title, I thought you were referring to their radio Ad.... The one in which they claim that Santa only uses Duracell batteries in all of the toys that he delivers. I never thought an Ad. could be both amusing & irritating, both at the same time.