Want to be the next voice of the Aflac duck?

Looking to get its duck in a row, Aflac plans to hold auditions to find a replacement for Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of the company's screeching feathered mascot. As you've surely heard, Gottfried was fired after making dumb jokes about Japan. Aflac has handled the difficult situation pretty well—i.e., with some humor as well as contrition. Over on Facebook, the duck—who has 236,000 fans, some 228,000 more than the company itself—wrote that "Gilbert Gottfried's insensitive comments about the tragedy in Japan have left me speechless. But not for long." Tonight, Aflac will roll out the spot below, by The Kaplan Thaler Group, urging people to visit the duck on Facebook for information on how to audition to be the duck's new voice. (The spot is actually a reworked version of a 2006 ad, but it's perfect for the occasion—it's a silent-film homage in which the duck doesn't speak.) This afternoon, the duck added this note: "There's an internet rumor that Ben Affleck is going to be my new voice. If only! Stay tuned-I *am* on the hunt for a new voice. Maybe yours?" UPDATE: The site for applications and audition info is now live: QuackAflac.com.

Filed under Kaplan Thaler
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Kaplan Thaler gives every employee an iPad

The Kaplan Thaler Group had an Oprah-style surprise for its workers at its holiday party last night: Every employee—all 200 or so, down to administrative staff—went home with an Apple iPad. Good times. It's nice to hear of an agency doing something nice for its employees when we usually just hear about layoffs and other indignities. I think every agency (and trade publication) should follow its lead.

Filed under Apple, Holidays, iPad, Kaplan Thaler, Morrissey
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Wendy Thomas starring in first Wendy's ads

Wendy Thomas has been the perennially childlike face of Wendy's for ages, but until now, she's never been in an ad for the fast-food chain founded by her father, Dave Thomas. That changes next week, though, because Wendy is set to appear in three Las Vegas-exclusive commercials (created by The Kaplan Thaler Group) for the Dave's Hot 'N Juicy Cheeseburger, which the rest of us provincials won't get to try until next summer. Vegas is often a test site for new menu items, which Wendy's svp of communications Denny Lynch says is because of its "broad spectrum of people." Wendy herself thinks Vegas has "a great demographic. You're young, you're old. You have everything here." And since the city indulges so many other unhealthy appetites, what's a new cheeseburger here and there?

Filed under Food and drink, Kaplan Thaler, Kiefaber, Restaurants, Wendy's
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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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