Gilbert Gottfried may have been silenced for his insensitive jokes about the tsunami that ravaged Japan, but the Aflac duck will quack once more.
After an extensive nationwide search, Aflac has found a replacement for their loud, insurance-shilling duck to startle you once again when your television gets inexplicably loud during commercial breaks. With over 12,000 submissions (we sincerely hope there was some sort of raise/incentive for whoever had to listen to all of those), Daniel McKeague, a 36-year-old radio sales manager from Hugo, Minn., bested them all.
In the YouTube clip posted below, you can watch as McKeague excitedly finds out he’s the voice of the, er, spokesduck (you’ve got to hand it to him, he’s a dead ringer for the old Aflac duck). The moment will also air during tonight’s series premiere of, fittingly, The Voice. Hope you didn’t get too cocky or comfortable with yourselves there, Nasonex bee and Geico gecko. Cuz Aflac’s back. (And we’re not talking about this one.)
Anyone kind of wish they had gone in a different direction with the new voice, rather than finding a Gottfried sound-a-like?
Read more:
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Gilbert Gottfried apologizes for Japan tragedy tweets
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Gilberts comments were hilarious!
Yeah, I guess if you like ridiculously insensitive comments in the face of a horrifying tragedy…
It was a tragedy, for sure…. but humor has always gotten us through rough times. I thought Aflac over-reacted by firing him. I see their point, but they were in the wrong. Most people wouldn’t even have known that Gilbert Gottfried ever even HAD A TWITTER had they not blown this out of proportion.
At the end of the day, a joke is a joke. Not everybody will think it is funny
what a bunch of over sensitive cry babies.
You know all that “Buy American!” crap? Here’s my thought on that and “tasteless” jokes.
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Q: What’s the biggest difference between 9/11 and the Oklahoma City Bombing?
A: Foreigners once again prove they can do it better and more efficiently.
Here’s another:
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Q: Who are the fastest readers in the world?
A: New Yorkers. Some of them go through 110 stories in 5 seconds
I laughed
i simply wish they would set this duck out to pasture (or whatever metaphor works for ducks). the aflac duck’s novelty has worn off.
suddenly I’m in the mood for cheese and quackers.
…or roasted Peking Duck!!!
THEY MAY HAVE THOUGHT GILBERT USED POOR JUDGEMENT IN HIS JOKE TELLING BUT, IT’S LEFT ME NOT EVER WANTING TO PURCHASE INSURANCE FROM AFLAC!
S Q U A K !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They should have just hired Ben Affleck. Now that would have been funny.
Seriously though if you are going to hire someone who sounds exactly like Gilbert Gottfried’s actual speaking voice then what was the point of firing him in the first place? The voice of the duct will still be associated with him.
It’s time t retire the duck but they could do it in a fitting way. Something like a snaggle toothed hillbilly grandmother snatching him up, holding him down on a stump, and just as she starts t swing the hatchet down toowards his neck he screams ‘AFLAC!’ one final time. (or he could scream ‘AW F#&K’ which sounds a lot like Aflac.)
I LOVE the Nasonex bee!!! For some reason that smooth Latin accent is just hilarious!!!
Isn’t the Nasonex bee Antonio Banderas?
Yummy…I love Antonio as the Bee. Sexy voice.
I wish they’d have hired me. Sent in a demo…didn’t even get a call. I think I could’ve quacked the feathers off this guy.
I really question whether the general public is even going to know there was a change. If it hadn’t been so blown out of proportion in the media, it probably would have slipped under MY radar.
What a petty company…I’ll being switching the channel next time one of their ads shows up.
And a weary nation can finally get some rest. Thank you, advertising agencies.
Umm, insurance. I care. A lot.
I think Gottfried was 10 times better! I could do better than the new guy!
Great article. I can¡¯t wait to hear more about your research tool. If it is as good as your other products, then you will have another winner. Your article pretty much summed up what I have been seeing too. Great to see some hard data.