Duracell Battery And Teddy Bear Ad Analysis

The current generation of consumers lives in an era of advertisement. It’s hard to walk around a street corner and not see an ad for something “new” and “big”. In the video “The Persuaders” the first point that the speaker makes is how New York has developed a shell of ads around it. (PBS, The Persuaders) Ads however, like culture, are constantly changing to appeal to a broader range of audience. One such ad is the Duracell battery and teddy bear advertisement. In the Duracell battery and teddy bear advertisement; the ad primarily appeals to the audience's emotion (pathos).
Here is the scene. The ad begins with a soldier putting Duracell batteries into a message recording teddy bear, this action is followed by him recording a short message into the now powered recorder. The ad jumps to another scene where the soldier’s wife opening a package that contains the teddy bear. Joy and excitement fills the eyes of the soldier’s daughter as her mother hands her the teddy bear. Their daughter then gives the bear a tight hug; the hug causes the recorder inside the teddy bear to utter a simple phrase. “I love you baby girl” Is the phrase that the bear echoes in the girl’s father’s voice. The next scenes show

the soldier’s daughter enjoying her father’s words and having fun with her new companion. However, the mood of the ad changes, when the daughter hears her father and rushes to see him at the door. It is only a video call between her mother and father through the computer. The soldier expresses joy in seeing his daughter, but the daughter expresses a more disappointed look towards both of her parents. The scene then jumps to the daughter lying in her bed with her mother on the other side of her door listening to her; she squeezes the bear to hear its phrase and replies to it saying “I miss you daddy.” Again the ad jumps to another scene where the daughter is having a tea party with her toys including the teddy bear. The daughter hears the phrase “I love you baby girl” without squeezing her bear. She turns to see her father, the soldier, in the doorway. In an instant she runs to her father and embraces him in a loving hug. The ad ends by fading to black and the Duracell logo appearing in the middle of the screen.
This ad tells the story of what it is like for a veteran’s family. Advertisers nowadays focus on a specific connection with the consumers that get them to think “This is something I need and support.” Duracell highly focuses on the pathos, or emotion connection with their consumers. People who do not have a direct family member enlisted in a branch of the military may find it difficult to put themselves in someone else’s place who does have a direct family member enlisted. The ad is attempting to show what goes on in a veteran’s family life, while also backing up their own product.
“We were basically in the house of this family and we asked the daughter to show off her favorite toy,.

We were expecting regular toys — remote control cars and all this — and they came running with this battery-powered bear.” is what the Duracell brand manager said after visiting the home of a veteran, the one whose story inspired this now widely known advertisement. (Taft, Independent Journal) It also adds to the credibility of the advertisement considering that the story of it is based off of true events. In an advertisement review from Independent Journal, the writer includes this direct quote from the Duracell brand manager. The author also makes a point that the ad provides a “wonderful way to address the question, ‘Is Dad coming back?’” (Taft, Independent

Journal)
As if focusing on veteran’s families isn’t enough, at the end of the advertisement there is an announcement made by actress Hilary Swank. The announcement is simple. Hilary encourages the viewer to go online and donate any amount of money to the USO’s Comfort Care for Kids. The foundation takes funds and uses them to help comfort the children of deployed veterans. Duracell themselves donated 100,000 dollars to the foundation after the official release of their advertisement. (Taft, Independent Journal)
Overall, the advertisement succeeds in appealing to the viewers deep sense of emotion and gives nothing but positive reasoning to buy the product. The ad uses a sensitive subject to create positive feedback for the product. By focusing on veterans and their families, the ad is able to broaden its demographic. Most citizens in the United States hold veterans to quite a high level of respect. There are also families in the United States who have had someone in their lives risk their own to protect the rights of the country. So this advertisement not only broadens the demographic, but also definitely appeals to it.
After seeing this ad, I would have to say that I myself would definitely be more inclined to buy Duracell batteries simply because I know where a portion of the funds are going, and what the company supports. The company attempts to create an emotional connection between the viewer and the product. In the Duracell battery advertisement, I believe that it makes a shockingly strong connection with the consumer populous and has profited highly from that. Consumers want a company to almost bond with them, or at the least want that company to show them that they care to some degree. This ad does that and so much more. The power of emotion is a powerful thing, and it is obvious that Duracell has discovered that.