Eveready Battery Company, Inc. v. Adolph Coors Co.

Beginning in 1988, Eveready Battery Co. (plaintiff) ran a series of television commercials featuring a pink mechanical toy bunny donning beach thongs and sunglasses (the Energizer Bunny). Each commercial used a commercial-within-a-commercial format and featured the Energizer Bunny entering from off screen while beating his bass drum, spinning around, and twirling his drum mallets before proceeding to propel himself off screen once again. Each commercial ended with the voiceover: “Still going. Nothing outlasts the Energizer. They keep going and going [voice fades out].” The series of television commercials became the most popular in the nation and, in 1989, Eveready registered the Energizer Bunny with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Then, in 1990, Adolph Coors Co. (defendant) created a television commercial, also using a commercial-within-a-commercial format, that featured the actor Leslie Nielsen entering from off screen with a drum beat, spinning around, and walking off screen once again. Mr. Nielsen wore a suit, fake white rabbit ears, fuzzy white tail and rabbit feet, and carried a bass drum imprinted with the Coors Light logo. The commercial ended with the voiceover: “Coors Light, the official beer of the nineties, is the fastest growing light beer in America. It keeps growing and growing and growing [voice fades out].” Eveready initiated suit to enjoin Coors’ use of the commercial, alleging trademark infringement under the Lanham Act and trademark dilution under the Illinois Anti-Dilution Act, among other claims. Eveready moved for a preliminary injunction.