Columbus-based Aflac will unveil a new TV commercial featuring its familiar feathered pitchman during the Georgia-Clemson game Saturday.
The ad, the latest in the supplemental insurer’s “Out of Work Duck” campaign, features the duck finally trying to shout its signature “Aflaaaaaaac!” after being silenced for much of the year because of an injury. One attempt has the duck saying, “Yo, yo, yo, Aflac!” and another has him saying the company’s name with a Honey Boo Boo flair.
He’s trying to get the word out that he doesn’t have to worry about his bills because the insurer is paying him cash, which allows him to focus on getting back on his webbed feet.
Aflac began the campaign in January with the heavily bandaged duck, beak included, in the hospital and unable to work. Ads have had the duck seen but not heard as they chronicle his injury, recovery and therapy.
The latest in the series is called “Rehearsal” and has the duck practicing his pitch in front of a mirror just before shooting for the commercial begins. The duck has been updating his recovery on his Facebook page, which has generated more than 400,000 “likes.”
The Aflac duck made his debut in commercials in January 2000. He is also used in marketing campaigns in Japan, where Aflac generates 80 percent of its revenue, according to spokesman Jon Sullivan.
The duck is “very, very popular” in Japan but “he’s not as loud” there because of cultural considerations, the spokesman said. “The duck is a much more sage and less boisterous duck in Japan,” Sullivan said.
The “Out of Work Duck” ad campaign was created by Publicis Kaplan Thaler in New York and will continue until the duck is fully recovered, Sullivan said.
The Bulldogs face Clemson at 8 p.m. in a game that can be seen live on ABC-TV.
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