Hitachi Maxell (日立マクセル, Hitachi Makuseru?) (TYO: 6810), or Maxell, is a Japanese company which manufactures consumer electronics. The company's notable products are batteries and electronics -- the company's name is a contraction of "maximum capacity dry cell" -- and recording media, including audio cassettes and blank VHS tapes, and recordable optical discs like CD-R/RW and DVD±RW. Additionally, the company sells electronics accessories, like CD and DVD laser cleaners. On March 4, 2008 Maxell announced that they would no longer manufacture their optical media, but would start contracting other companies to manufacture Maxell media. [1]

Maxell was formed in 1960 when a dry cell manufacturing plant was created at the company's Osaka registered headquarters. In 1961, Maxell Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. was created out of the dry battery and magnetic tape divisions of Nitto Electric lndustrial Co., Ltd. (now Nitto Denko Corp.).

In the 1980s, Maxell became an icon of pop culture when it produced advertisements popularly known as "Blown Away Guy" for its line of audio cassettes. The original campaign began as a trade ad in 1978 and was made into TV spots in 1979 which ran throughout the 1980s. Steve Steigman was the photographer[2] and Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" was used for music. In the UK the music used was "Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky.