Wait a Minute, Mr. Postman

NOTE: This blog originally appeared January 1, 2005

The Energizer bunny kept going, and going, and going, and was eventually no longer the main focus in the battery company’s television ads.

Energizer commercials still contain the beloved bunny, but now feature more human-oriented topics in promoting their product. The latest one portrays a mailman, trudging through the rain and slush down a neighborhood street, seemingly determined to deliver each letter and package to its rightful destination.

At the ad’s conclusion, viewers are told that they “deserve a battery that works as hard as [they] do.”

With this most recent ad, Energizer reiterates on a common societal, and “All-American,” theme of hard work, determination, and being given recognition for never giving up. If these ideas sound like clichés, it’s because that’s what they are, and the message that the ad is trying to serve to consumers is not complicated.

The mailman works hard, every day, just like you. And the only way to give proper respect to someone who works hard is to reward them with a product that works just as diligently as they do. As a postman, the neighborhood relies on you. As a hard working American, your family relies on you. Therefore, as a battery, Energizer is the most reliable choice for you.

This concept is not new, however.

For decades companies have proudly displayed “Made in the USA” tags on products and appliances, hoping to strike even the smallest chord of patriotism. All the chords may have already been struck, however, as an “it’s-been-done-before attitude” arises from the commercial.

But, after all rain or snow, sleet or hail, the postman always delivers the mail, right? Yeah, and there’s no way the Dodgers will ever leave Brooklyn.

Silly Energizer, your ads are for rabbits.