Energizer’s release of the “world’s first” battery made with recycled parts from other batteries might be a big deal in terms of the big market, but to some, it just seems a little bit like a gotcha tag line to throw on packaging, labels, and the company website — not to mention the many press releases the company cut loose after the big reveal of the “EcoAdvanced” battery.
The scoop, according to the top name in batteries, is that this new and different kind of battery isn’t just made from old, recycled batteries; it also lasts longer than any other battery they have brought to market to date. However, the actual recycled contents of the EcoAdvanced battery from Energizer only makes up four percent of each whole battery’s contents. While some argue this is a good start in the right direction, for others, the jury is still very much out.
Energizer’s PR and marketing teams are out in full force to protect and fuel a positive image for the little four percent of recycled ingredients, and Energizer itself has pledged that by no later than 2025 at least 40 percent of the EcoAdvanced batteries will be comprised of recycled battery materials. Not to shabby, especially when the assertion is that these batteries will last longer, and the recycled materials are converted into constituents that make for longer lasting batteries. Following this logic, we can assert that the more of this recycled material there is to convert into higher-powered ingredients, as it were, the batteries you toss in your smart TV remote in 2025 should last for several years.
Four percent is probably not the best jumping off point for the EcoAdvanced battery campaign, but is was certainly enough to make Energizer comfortable with launching an eco-cause marketing campaign. Knowing that most people aren’t reading the tiny print, and that the audience is often young people with kids and first-time homebuyers, this young new set is known for its love of all things sustainable is eager to teach their own kids about the importance of recycling and repurposing.
Complete with its “Leaders Go First” YouTube video, which clearly targets Millennials with glimpses of everything Millennial. From extreme sporting to what appears to be homeschooling, people using tablets, growing urban gardens, and of course, white coats in labs working on some indescribable project, it’s all there. But there’s one thing that’s glaringly missing: anyone over the age of 30 (unless you count the close-up imagery of the moon landing).
Going green is absolutely a cause, and a very good one at that. Hopefully Energizer will continue to add more recycled batteries with “super powers” as it has promised. Anyone who has bought the cheapest generic batteries knows they’re expensive. What’s more, when you buy gifts for kids that require batteries, the cost of a gift goes from the range of $25 to a more realistic $33 or more, depending on the battery needed. It’s sort of an unspoken law that giving someone else’s kids a present that requires batteries also means batteries are on you. The silver lining for an occasion like this is the opportunity to discuss the importance of taking care of Mother Earth with your nieces and nephews or your own kids when you give them EcoAdvanced batteries as part of their gift.
The cause here is our environment, so we can’t sit too high on our horses while other companies and monster corporations do nothing — or worse — continue to do more harm than good when it comes to greening up the planet for the next generation. Four percent of recycled batteries may not be a huge percent, but it’s a start. In terms of causes, it’s a start we can welcome with a bigger smile on our faces than no change at all within this highly recyclable industry. Gimmicky or not, this trend is on the rise, and we can expect other names in batteries to follow suit with their own brand of cause marketing related to conservation.