Batteries are on the list of “least glamorous items to buy.” When does a celebrity even consider a battery? When has a battery company ever thrown a good party? The people who care about batteries are handymen and people who still have landlines. Ye olde double A is represented by a fluffy pink bunny hitting a drum.
However, Duracell’s latest campaign featuring Jay-Z, which comes to us from NYC shop Woods Witt Dealy & Sons, is an exception to my disparaging battery judgments. Like many brands, they’ve decided to emphasize not their product, but what their product enables. The Duracell Powermat is a wireless charging system that allows a busy, social, stylish New Yorker do everything he wants in a day with his phone always at the ready. And the punch line of this 60-second spot completes it: When our protagonist ends up at the 40/40 club for a late night tipple, guess whose phone he picks up accidentally?
If there’s one New Yorker who should represent a modern sense of power, it’s Hova. Duracell did well by somehow getting him to be the face of this campaign. And actually, it’s a fun step out for Jay, given that rappers typically associate themselves with alcohol brands and clothing. With this smart talent contract and campaign theme, maybe Duracell will succeed in making their battery brand a chic commodity.