History MediaNotes / BatteriesNotIncluded

->''Unlikely things to hear at christmas time: "Batteries Included."''

This is generally because the manufacturer is/was too cheap to spend a few extra cents on batteries. Historically, there was also a concern with the corrosion that could occur if a standard battery were left installed too long, potentially damaging or ruining the product. This problem is partially solved by breaking the circuit with a tiny plastic strip placed between the battery and the item contact. This strip is then removed after purchase. Another solution involves packaging the batteries separately, often in a tight-fitting plastic shrink-wrap, and is a standard practice with appliance remote controls. Further, if the device uses a non-standard size or a rechargeable battery, or if the batteries are not intended to be user serviced, it will usually be packaged with the battery.

->''Unlikey things to hear at christmas time: "Batteries Included."''

Most common electrical or electronic products are sold (in the U.S.) without batteries, if the item uses any of the standard U.S. sizes (AAA, AA, C, D, or 9-volt). Thus the phrase "Batteries Not Included" is (or was) a standard CatchPhrase in television commercials for toys and games.

This is generally because the manufacturer is too cheap to spend a few extra cents on batteries. Historically, there was also a concern with the corrosion that could occur if a standard battery were left installed too long, potentially damaging or ruining the product, although this problem is partially solved by breaking the circuit with a tiny plastic strip that is removed after purchase. Another solution involves packaging the batteries separately; for some reason this is a standard practice with appliance remote controls. Further, if the device uses a non-standard size or a rechargeable, or if the batteries are not intended to be user serviced, it will usually come with the battery.

You may find weird situations, like if you buy an R/C helicopter, the helicopter has a small battery inside it that is charged by plugging a wire into the wireless control to recharge it, then disconnect the wire once the helicopter is charged in order to fly it, but the wireless controller does not include the batteries that are required to operate it or to charge the helicopter.

Nowadays, while this rule of not including batteries often applies to most small consumer electronic appliances, more and more children's toys are packaged with a "demo" or "AttractMode" that allows the little grubbers to play with them in the store, making it more likely that they'll beg their parents to make the purchase. Naturally, such toys get played with enough that the manufacturer's batteries are frequently drained by the time they actually make it home, fulfilling the trope in effect if not by definition. Also, "manufacturer" batteries (with some exceptions like Panasonic) are typically cheap generics that don't last as long as a brand name anyway. There are also some minor issues where shipments of items with batteries in them already cost more to distribute due to hazardous materials laws.

Not to be confused with ''Film/BatteriesNotIncluded'', the Creator/StevenSpielberg movie from the 1980s, or ''[[ChooseYourOwnAdventure Toy Terror: Batteries Included]]'', the ''Literature/GiveYourselfGoosebumps'' book.

What can also be ridiculous is if you're buying a device that eats batteries faster than a junkie can smoke through crack, like cameras, radios and [=MP3=] players, where typically you have to use recyclable batteries or they'll cost you a fortune in disposable batteries (so that if you have a digital camera and took a lot of pictures the disposable batteries would cost you as much as regular film), and the manufacturer recommends ''not'' using rechargeable batteries in their device.[[note]] This recommendation is due to the fact that many rechargeable batteries can have a longer delay between discharges, effectively making the device slower than the designers made it to be. Also, most rechargeable batteries have lower operating voltages than their nonrechargeable counterparts, meaning that a product not engineered to deal with this may appear to drain batteries ridiculously fast, or may not even work at all. The recommendation to use disposables is mainly to keep their product from looking bad unfairly -also note that some digital cameras that use AA batteries allow you in the setup or equivalent menu to specify what kind of battery is being used, rechargeable or not ones-[[/note]]

What can also be ridiculous is if you're buying a device that eats batteries faster than a junkie can smoke through crack, like cameras, radios and [=MP3=] players, where typically you have to use recyclable batteries or they'll cost you a fortune in disposable batteries (so that if you have a digital camera and took a lot of pictures the disposable batteries would cost you as much as regular film), and the manufacturer recommends ''not'' using rechargeable batteries in their device.[[note]] This recommendation is due to the fact that many rechargeable batteries can have a longer delay between discharges, effectively making the device slower than the designers made it to be. Also, most rechargeable batteries have lower operating voltages than their nonrechargeable counterparts, meaning that a product not engineered to deal with this may appear to drain batteries ridiculously fast, or may not even work at all. The recommendation to use disposables is mainly to keep their product from looking bad unfairly.[[/note]]

What can also be ridiculous is if you're buying a device that eats batteries faster than a junkie can smoke through crack, like cameras, radios and MP3 players, where typically you have to use recyclable batteries or they'll cost you a fortune in disposable batteries (so that if you have a digital camera and took a lot of pictures the disposable batteries would cost you as much as regular film), and the manufacturer recommends ''not'' using rechargeable batteries in their device.[[note]] This recommendation is due to the fact that many rechargeable batteries can have a longer delay between discharges, effectively making the device slower than the designers made it to be. Also, most rechargeable batteries have lower operating voltages than their nonrechargeable counterparts, meaning that a product not engineered to deal with this may appear to drain batteries ridiculously fast, or may not even work at all. The recommendation to use disposables is mainly to keep their product from looking bad unfairly.[[/note]]