The new Chief of Marketing over at supplemental insurance company Aflac, Jeff Herbert, is planning to silence the duck. Despite the little quacker having garnered the company an 85% brand awareness rating, Herbert feels that people just don't know what Aflac actually does. So, expect to see the duck minimized in future Aflac advertisements.Poor,duck. It probably doesn't know how to say anything other than "Aflac," which could cut the second phase of his career awfully short. Perhaps, he could go into early "fallen corporate mascot" retirement. There's got to be a pasture out there somewhere where Morris the Cat, Spuds McKenzie and the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales sit around and bitch about their agents.
UPDATE: The duck lives! The AdAge story which this post referred to was picked up by news outlets all over the country. Apparently, the piece overstated Herbert's intention of expanding beyond television ads to other media where the duck's "quack" would not be heard. Aflac has officially announced that they have, "no intention of abandoning the duck."
Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-20-2007 @ 6:48PM
Gene Cowan said...
And yet their branding moro... um, geniuses, decided to make the duck part of their logo. Brilliant.
Reply
2-20-2007 @ 7:20PM
Sydne said...
NOoooo!
Not the duck.
Reply
2-20-2007 @ 7:50PM
David said...
It's insurence, everyone knows it's insurence!
Dumbasses.
Reply
2-20-2007 @ 7:56PM
Elf said...
Yes, David, they are dumbasses. They do indeed sell 'insurence.' Oh the irony...
The worse news is that this means Gilbert Gottfried is out of work and will be looking for a new gig. What other products could he shill for?
Reply
2-20-2007 @ 7:57PM
Violeta said...
Well, at least the Daily Show will still be using it for Vilsack news...
Reply
2-20-2007 @ 8:29PM
Kiko said...
They're not putting Yogi Berra out to pasture, are they?
Reply
2-20-2007 @ 9:40PM
rickster said...
What an idiot...
The duck is the only thing that gets people to look at AFLAC commercials. And they've not come near to mining the brand equity they could with the duck.
Should he continue along this path, Mr. Herbert will no doubt become the former Chief of Marketing.
Reply
2-20-2007 @ 11:02PM
erroneous_nick said...
Wow, that's sad. Because of that silly duck, the Aflac commercials are some of the ones I actually enjoy watching.
I love my Alfac coverage, too. Their wellness benefits are something I've taken advantage of. Because of a history of colon cancer in my family, I have to get colonoscopies every 3 years and Aflac pays me $40 cash after each one. All I have to do is fill out the form for wellness benefits and they send me a check. The duck is just extra window dressing, but it makes me feel even better about having a policy with 'em.
Too bad Mr. Herbert didn't realize that.
Reply
2-20-2007 @ 11:07PM
erroneous_nick said...
I did a quick check of the Aflac site and found a press release that said, "Contrary to recent media reports, Aflac has no intention of abandoning its use of the Aflac Duck."
http://www.aflac.com/us/en/aboutaflac/PressReleaseStory.aspx?rid=965153
Now, that could just be a way of talking around the possibility of minimizing the duck's presence, but it doesn't give that impression.
Reply
2-21-2007 @ 1:13AM
Preston said...
That duck made MILLIONS for Aflac for years! I couldn't stop laughing every time he was trying to scream AFLAC to people who didn't know what insurance company to turn to. But maybe the new head, Jeff Herbert, was tired of the quacking duck and wants people to focus on the life insurance side. Life insurance is a more serious topic than a cartoonish ad.
Reply
2-21-2007 @ 7:16AM
superfan said...
i miss the duck's antics, but that gecko that was in those other ads have got to go! that's why they have replaced him with the caveman, but they should also replace the gekco in their print ads!
Reply
2-21-2007 @ 11:17PM
erroneous_nick said...
Thanks for the update, Julia. It's just too bad you, or one of the readers here didn't bother to check Aflac's site for confirmation or denial of the story and then maybe post a link to it.
Oh wait...
Reply
2-27-2007 @ 8:55PM
Kay said...
Big mistake. The duck is the only reason anyone remembers a commerical about insurance. I wonder how fast they change their minds.
Reply
3-05-2007 @ 10:42PM
Jeffrey said...
What the duck! Actually, the duck isn't going anywhere, but I can see now that the article has been revised. Read more: http://www.sicklesinsight.com/long-live-the-aflac-duck/
Reply
3-29-2007 @ 9:16AM
Matt said...
Oh my...is everyone still talking about this? It's ridiculous to think that AFLAC would get rid of the duck. I am an agent with AFLAC and all of us that work for the company know that the duck, and Gilbert Gottfried, aren't going anywhere. Jeff Hebert's comment was simply taken out of text! When we say we're making changes to how our brand is seen by millions of people we are simply saying that the day of the 30 second commercial spot are DEAD! Any of you that are actual AFLAC policyholders may have been around an agent once or twice. The reason for me bringing that up is that one of Jeff Hebert's first moves was to create AFLAC ring tones that we can download off of our agent website. It's the small things such as that that will continue to set us apart from our competitors. Jeff realizes that there are other mediums of communication that people see on a daily basis. Internet ads, blogs, billboards, etc. These are all things that AFLAC will begin exploring in the future, and yes, with the help of the duck! Long live the duck!
Reply
4-05-2007 @ 10:51PM
al said...
i would like to know who the black gentleman is who is always popping up in the aflac commercials. he doesn't say anything just looks incredulously at the duck. i'm wondering about his connection to aflac or to the company that makes the commercial. i would bet that given an unidentified photo of this man, most people would have a vague recollection of having seen him somewhere but couldn't link it to the aflac commercials.
Reply