Auditions for Aflac duck not going that well

A couple of tips for anyone who'd like to be the next voice of the Aflac duck: Realize that potential future employers will read your Twitter feed. And do not—I repeat, do not—mimic a beloved Disney character during your audition. (I'm too late on that second piece of advice, judging from the outtakes here. Guys, pretty sure that's intellectual property theft). Not surprisingly, plenty of people are willing to humiliate themselves and assault my eardrums by trying to fill Gilbert Gottfried's shoes. Which approach will tickle the fancy of the marketer? The screech that could shatter glass? The Gottfried wannabe? The protracted scream that must've been emitted on a dare? I'll be locating my earplugs while the insurance company is making up its mind.

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Aflac cans Gilbert Gottfried for Japan jokes

After more than a decade as the grating voice behind Aflac's web-footed mascot, comedian Gilbert Gottfried has been fired for making jokes on Twitter about the devastating Japanese tsunami. On Saturday, Gottfried reportedly posted a series of about a dozen tweets making light of the natural disaster. They include such zingers as: "Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them.” (All his posts have since been deleted.) "Gilbert's recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac," Chief Marketing Officer Michael Zuna said. "Aflac Japan — and by extension, Japan itself — is part of the Aflac family, and there is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times." It probably doesn't help Gottfried's case that Aflac does 75% of its business in Japan and had already pledged $1.2 million for recovery. Photo credit: Reuters.

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The best online advertising placement ever?

This could be it—at least until Barnum & Bailey starts advertising on Web pages about coulrophobia. Via BuzzFeed.

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Aflac's quacker stars in his 50th commercial

If you're an action figure who suffers sadistic abuse from kids, Aflac can keep you from ending up on the Island of Misfit Toys. The new animated spot below, a co-branded promotion for Toy Story 3, is a bit of a double milestone for the decade-old, insurance-hawking duck. It's reportedly his 50th appearance in a TV spot and his second time appearing alongside Pixar characters—the first being a considerably mellower moment for Up. (DM News says The Kaplan Thaler Group did the new TV spot, while The Zimmerman Agency is handling other campaign elements.) I've never been a fan of the duck (or any character in the Gilbert Gottfried oeuvre, really), but there's no denying he's got some sort of inexplicable appeal. Just look at Facebook, where he has more than 170,000 fans. By comparison, Geico is a distant also-ran with 13,000, despite the combined might of its gecko, cavemen and googly-eyed "Kash." That's one powerful, pissed-off duck. Hat tip to Stitch Kingdom.

—Posted by David Griner

Filed under Aflac, Griner, Insurance, Kaplan Thaler, Movies, Pixar
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