Duracell uses dark humour to show lithium battery risks

Global battery leader Duracell today unveiled a fun out of-home campaign highlighting its innovative product safety feature, coating its  lithium coin batteries with a repulsive taste to discourage kids from swallowing them. 

Bitter Truths, developed by integrated creative agency VML UK, aims to target  parents and showcase Duracell's bitter coating technology while highlighting the  brand’s commitment to safety.  

Due to the increasing use of Lithium Coin batteries in everyday products such as  scales, key fobs, remote controls and flameless candles, the number of child ingestion  accidents is on the rise. Research shows that the number of related accidents in  households across the globe has more than quadrupled since 2002. 

Duracell is working hard to tackle this issue as the only Lithium Coin battery supplier  with BITREX technology designed to help prevent ingestion. The non-toxic substance,  which is also the most bitter on earth, leaves a repulsive taste that encourages babies  and toddlers to spit out the battery to help avoid swallowing.  

Bitter Truths highlights this technology through a series of out-of-home and social  executions with the end-line “some things are to bitter for kids to swallow”. These  playful illustrations are designed to juxtapose childhood innocence with life's harsher  realities… or bitter truths. 

"Child Safety is a key issue for Duracell. We wanted to take a bold approach to  communicate this serious message," said Marco Montanaro, Associate Marketing  Director at Duracell. “So, we’ve struck close to home. We knew that was what’s  needed to cut through all the safety messages out in the world… with creative that  might make some people feel uncomfortable - crafting something that is not only  visually impactful but humorously resonates with parents everywhere with its  tongue-in-cheek approach.”  

Working with celebrated children's illustrators, such as David Litchfield (creator of the  best-selling The Bear & The Piano) and Maxine Vee (a Canadian artist known for her  work with Disney), and 3D animators Arcade Studio, the campaign presents  whimsical childhood-style artwork with unexpected twists to deliver a powerful  message about battery safety.  

The campaign aims to make maximum impact with the placement of digital out-of home executions, supported by a social media campaign designed to amplify  awareness of this important safety feature. 

"People generally ignore safety messages, so we decide to speak in a way that  parents of young children wouldn’t ignore. We created a set of innocent kids'  illustrations from cartoons and bedtime stories, but within them sits a bitter truth - designed to capture the parents attention and tell them about this incredible safety  feature," concluded Ryan McManus, Chief Creative Officer at VML UK.."

Credits

Client: Duracell 

Marco Montanaro - Associate Marketing Director  

Agency: VML  

Ryan McManus – Chief Creative Officer  

Pedro Rosa - Executive Creative Director  

Marco Bezerra – Executive Creative Director  

Mike Watson – Creative Director  

Miles Carter & Sophie Knox – Lead Creatives  

Neil Godber – Executive Strategy Director  

Jonny Park – Strategy Director  

Victoria Thorniley - Project Director 

Asher Guerrier Halil – Project Manager  

Eden Wood – Project Manager 

Lizzie Alleyne – Business Director  

Rudi Macloskey – Account Director  

Jon Warner – Senior Designer  

Nick Frith – Lead Production Designer