Cameron Summerson
I buy CR2032 coin cell batteries in bulk because I have at least four different bike gadgets that use them. And when it’s time to replace one, there’s nothing I love more than swallowing the old one whole—it makes me feel energized. But now Duracell is ruining that by adding a bitter coating to its coin batteries.
I am, of course, only kidding about swallowing batteries. Please don’t eat batteries. They are not for human consumption and will most certainly not make you feel energized. But little kids don’t know that—they see small shiny objects and something in their growing-but-very-much-not-smart brain says “Hey, you should eat that thing.” I don’t understand it.
In order to keep little kids (and possibly me) from eating coin cell batteries, Duracell is now shipping its 2032-, 2025-, and 2016-sized batteries with a bitter coating. Hopefully, that means all the little human worm babies that stuff these things in their mouths will spit them out immediately.
Duracell isn’t the first company to put a bitter coating on its smaller products, either. Nintendo does the same thing with Switch games (seriously, go lick one and see for yourself) because they’re just small enough that the toddlers of the world may try to consume them.
Anecdotally, I caught my daughter trying to eat a huge slug once when she was a toddler, and it was disgusting. I wish slugs came with a bitter coating. Seriously though, why do toddlers put literally everything in their mouths? This is one form of childhood exploration that completely eludes me.
But I digress. If you live in fear that your child may one day consume a battery, this is good news. And, really, even if you don’t have that fear, this is probably a good thing. It may just save a tiny life.
