Aflac seeks new spokesduck voice

Print
E-mail

By J. Scott Trubey

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wanted: Voice for a spirited and beloved, if somewhat annoying, water fowl.

Enlarge photo

Gilbert Gottfried rode with the AFLAC Duck in a parade of advertising mascots in 2005. AFLAC is on the hunt for a new duck voice after firing Gottfried for what they said were insensitive tweets about Japan.

AFLAC Gilbert Gottfried rode with the AFLAC Duck in a parade of advertising mascots in 2005. AFLAC is on the hunt for a new duck voice after firing Gottfried for what they said were insensitive tweets about Japan.

Aflac's chief reaffirms earnings estimates

More business news

Qualifications: Comedic timing and the ability to capture a whole corporate ethos in a single word -- Aflac!

Columbus-based Aflac launched a national casting call on Wednesday to replace the fired Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of its iconic spokesduck.

Aflac does about 75 percent of its business in Japan, and the company pulled ads featuring Gottfried in the wake of insensitive Twitter postings he made about the earthquake and tsunami there earlier this month.

A voiceless Aflac mascot returns to primetime television Wednesday night in a silent film-styled spot with the duck saving a damsel in distress.

The clip coincides with a job posting on Monster.com, and a new website, Quackaflac.com, where quackers-in-training can submit applications.

Auditions start the first week of April in several cities including Atlanta.

The company expects to fill the job by the end of April.

Aflac twice mentions ethics in the litany of requirements in the job posting. Among core competencies, Aflac wants “a collaborative spirit especially when it comes to working with ducks.”

The job, a few days of work each year, is a six-figure gig, Aflac said.

“This position represents the company, our values and principles,” Aflac Chairman and CEO Dan Amos said Wednesday. "It’s not a gimmick.”

Since the duck first aired in 2000, Aflac’s brand recognition has soared, the company says. It sells supplemental and workplace health and life insurance.

Ken Bernhardt, a Georgia State University marketing professor, said Aflac

initially needed a recognizable voice like Gottfried's to introduce the duck and company. Bernhardt said Aflac likely will pick someone unknown this time.

“Now the duck can stand on its own,” he said.