Consumers are complaining about the battery on Apple’s new iPod Nano. The cost of bad publicity can be astronomical when it makes headlines in Business Week and BBC. Here is ONE simple idea how Apple can change bad headlines to good – by dancing!

Professor, Lawrence Rome at Pennsylvania University has developed a backpack that functions as a generator. The movements involved in carrying the backpack around produces up to 7 watts of electricity. Apple could put a similar generating function inside the new iPod. Just think, all you would need to do to keep listening to your Nano indefinitely would be to dance a little! The name of this new model: “iPod Dance”.

The idea is simple – power your iPod battery by dancing with it.

What’s more, dancing with your iPod has been a central theme in both advertising and in street culture. The iPod tribe dancing trend started in London and moved on to Berlin, Madrid, New York, Hong Kong and Tel Aviv. At Mobile-Clubbing you can find how and when the next dance event will hit your street.

To reintroduce the iPod Apple could use Madonna again, but this time she could dance in the streets of New York or Hong Kong for 2 days non-stop (media would love it and she is a great dancer).

It would be great if Apple’s music software iTunes could have recommendations such as “your iPod battery is running low, dance to these top 10 energy songs right now.”

Consumer power gives energy to corporations. In this ONE case they could theoretically dance together forever nonstop. What music would you play nonstop? What music do you think would produce the most energy? How would dance with Madonna, Bono?
Update Oct 20:
Dancers tap in to the idea of “iPod Dance”
iPod Nano PR crisis solution