The New York Times recently wrote an article a campaign for the new Phillips product line, ChargeOn wire-free portable chargers. SLANT Media, a creative marketing and design company in Charleston. has helped Phillips create a humorous microsite for the new line. The microsite is based on the ficticious ailment of “dead battery anxiety” related to cellphones.

Screenshot from the Dead Battery Anxiety site

The article describes SLANT’s role in this campaign and the campaign itself:

The campaign, which also has a presence in social media like Facebook and Twitter, is the brainchild of Slant Media in Charleston, S.C. Slant began working for Philips after Philips acquired a Slant client, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters, the maker of accessories for devices like iPhones and iPods.

The campaign is a hybrid of two types of pitches that are increasingly popular among marketers. One type is the parody of pharmaceutical commercials, spoofing their downbeat litany of woeful symptoms, perky claims of quick cures — and lengthy cautions of side effects.

The other type is the campaign that uses a microsite infused with catchy, colorful — and sometimes, controversial — content to draw attention in a crowded, cluttered marketplace.

SLANT’s founder and creative director, Christopher Cecil, remarked:

The goal of the campaign is to send up ‘the absurdity’ of what people do when their batteries stop working. We play up the point we can all relate to: ‘What do you do when your battery is about to die?’ The campaign is classic ‘problem/solution’ advertising dressed up in the garb of the drug ads that ‘everyone is so bombarded with.’ Even though it’s a joke, there’s a hint of truth to it. Humor is a great way to entertain and engage. If you take a step back and look at our connection to these devices, it’s funny. When a company pokes fun at itself, people appreciate it.