Energizer Holdings has its foundation in Eveready Battery Company, because in 1980 the company decided to change the name of its Eveready alkaline power cell to Energizer.
By 1986, the Union Carbide company sold Eveready Battery to Ralston Purina and by 2000 this company was spun off from Eveready, trading on the New York Stock Exchange as Energizer Holdings.
On the other hand, the ad icon "Energizer Bunny", was created as a parody of the Duracell Bunny, which first appeared in television commercials in 1973, in its “Drumming Bunny” commercial. Duracell had supposedly registered the drummer rabbit character trademark, but that trademark had expired in 1988, giving Energizer an opportunity to create its own brand.
The first Energizer Bunny commercial aired on US television on October 30, 1988. Produced by DDB Needham Worldwide, the ad began as a direct parody of Duracell's "Drumming Bunny" ad.
In the original Duracell ads, a set of battery-powered drumming toy rabbits gradually slow to a stop until only the copper-topped Duracell battery-powered toy remains active. In the Energizer parody, the Energizer Bunny enters the screen midway through the ad, banging on a huge bass drum and swinging a mallet over his head.
The Energizer Bunny is touted as being able to continue to run indefinitely, or at least much longer than similar toys (or other products) using batteries from rival brands. The criticism was that Duracell compared its batteries to carbon-zinc batteries, and not similar alkaline batteries like Energizer.
When the 1988 Energizer parody became an advertising hit and Energizer trademarked its bunny, Duracell decided to revive the Duracell Bunny campaign and filed for a new trademark in the United States, citing original use of the character over a decade before. This dispute resulted in a confidential out-of-court settlement on January 10, 1992, where Energizer (and its bunny) took exclusive trademark rights in the United States and Canada, and Duracell (and its bunny) took exclusive rights everywhere else in the world.
Furthermore, in 2003, under the leadership of then CEO J. Patrick Mulcahy, Energizer Holdings began to expand into the personal care products sector by purchasing various brands.
And on April 30, 2014, Energizer announced that by September 2015 it would separate its two lines of business into two publicly traded companies. The personal care company would sell feminine products from Playtex, Carefree, o.b. and Stayfree; shaving products from Schick, Edge, Skintimate and Wilkinson Sword; and tanning products from Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat.
For 2016, Energizer acquired HandStands Holding Corporation, a leading designer and marketer of fragrance and automotive appearance products, and for 2018, Energizer further expanded its car care portfolio under the Nu Finish brand.
Subsequently, in January 2018, Energizer announced that it would purchase Spectrum Brands' global lighting and battery division, which includes the Ray-O-Vac and Varta consumer battery brands.
Finally, Energizer, in addition to the Energizer Bunny, distributes its products in some countries under the ad icon “Mr. Energizer,” a battery defined by Energizer as “representative of the brand’s spirit of performance and longevity, challenging what you see around you with the same unbridled energy and performance that products deliver time and time again.”
There is not much information about this character, but our research indicates that he emerged in 2003.
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