Where is the aflac duck

Today we insure one out of every four Japanese households and are the leading insurance company measured by number of policies in force. We took that title from Nippon Life, which had held it for more than years.

In our Japanese marketing team introduced a new incarnation of the duck for a new insurance product. The cat duck has become so popular that our newest commercial was voted number one in Japan. A giant plush version of Maneki Neko Duck toured the country by bus, drawing crowds as big as 20, in city after city.

At each event we set up tables where we were able to sell policies to enthusiastic fans. How did we even get to this point? What made our white duck a sensation in Japan when the original Aflac Duck commercial aired there? When I first became CEO of the American Family Life Assurance Company, in , I reviewed all of our operations and decided to sell or close the ones that were underperforming in order to focus on Japan and the United States, the two biggest insurance markets in the world.

We had to do something dramatic. So rather than try a brand-new name, we decided to go with our acronym, Aflac. In the late s, we thought it was time for some new television advertisements, so we invited several agencies to pitch us at the same time in a creative shoot-out.

We reviewed at least 20 different concepts and set out to test the best. The top two agencies were allowed to submit five ads each for testing. With some trepidation, we agreed to let the agency test the commercial, along with some other concepts, to determine which of them was the most memorable. In six years only one of our commercials had earned a In the Kaplan Thaler testing, one of the highest-scoring concepts featured the actor Ray Romano, whose hit television show, Everybody Loves Raymond , was then at the height of its popularity.

I considered it a bird in the hand. We had a dilemma: Should we go with a commercial so bold—or with the gentle Ray Romano commercial that performed much better than our traditional ads? In , Aflac changed its logo to include the duck. The first advert with the new logo features Gilbert Gottfried then-voice actor of the duck at a pet store because the duck kept saying, "Aflac! He trades in the duck for a parrot that says, "If you're hurt and can't work.

In April , Aflac started the "Get the Aflacts" campaign to educate consumers about the benefits of Aflac insurance. According to The New York Times, the campaign gave the duck "a more prominent role", in an attempt to "help potential customers learn the Aflacts, er, facts about policies and other products". On March 14, , Aflac cut ties with Gilbert Gottfried after he tweeted jokes about the Japanese tsunami, which occurred three days prior. Aflac's chief marketing officer stated that "Gilbert's recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor, and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac".

On March 23, , Aflac held an audition for the new voice of the duck through QuackAflac. On April 26, , it was announced that Daniel McKeague, a television advertising sales manager from Hugo, Minnesota, won the role. That time Melania was in an Aflac commercial. The most important job most Americans have never heard of. This new technology can power thousands of homes.

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