Fan Fare

This rabbit has tangled with Darth Vader and King Kong. He has become an American advertising  icon of sorts as the toy that never runs out of battery power. And next, the Energizer Bunny will take a break from retirement to appear as a star item in a Beverly Hills auction.

Easter is coming and kids of all ages are devouring chocolate bunnies, so it may seem a good time to sell an Energizer Bunny if you have one. Organizers of the auction are not disclosing the name of the Los Angeles collector who is selling this particular rabbit, but they say the furry animatronic creature is one of four principal bunnies created for the series of Energizer Battery Co. advertisements begun in 1989.

The bunny is expected to fetch more than $20,000 when it goes under the hammer at a Heritage Auction Galleries Beverly Hills sale to be held April 9-11.

The Energizer Bunny was created by Oscar-nominated Hollywood special effects artist Eric Allard and his company. It was ranked by Advertising Age at No. 5 on the list of the 20th century’s biggest advertising icons, behind the Marlboro Man at No. 1. But aside from its sunglasses, drum set, pink fur and flip-flops, the creature also has some sharp teeth, metaphorically speaking. It was created as a brash parody of the Duracell-powered bunnies which that company featured in European advertisements. Few people in North America know that, because the Duracell bunnies had trouble making a beachhead on the continent.

The rabbit up for sale retired around 2000. But he’s back now, still going and going and going … until it’s gone, to the highest bidder.