Not too long ago, the Aflac duck lost it’s voice. The poor little mascot for the Aflac insurance company has been silent for at least a few months now, as the insurance company attempted to find a new voice for him. Finally, the wait is over, and the Aflac duck has a brand new voice. I’m sure it won’t be long before we get to hear it.
The original voice behind the Aflac duck was comedian Gilbert Gottfried. Perhaps Aflac selected him for the voice of their mascot because his voice is very distinct and noticeable. In any case, Gilbert Gottfried was the voice of the Aflac duck since 2000. If you’ve ever watched a commercial for Aflac, then you may remember hearing the Aflac duck screaming out the name of the insurance company it represents.
Earlier this year, Gilbert Gottfried got into some trouble due to some inappropriate comments he posted on Twitter. Considering the fact that he is a comedian, it is possible that his comments about the tsunami in Japan were meant to be jokes. The comments were considered to be in very poor taste by a lot of people, though, and this is what led to Aflac firing Gilbert Gottfried. Unfortunately, this decision also left the insurance company with a mute mascot.
To find a new voice for the Aflac duck, the insurance company did something rather creative. They held an audition via youtube. Anyone who wanted to could create a youtube video of themselves doing the voice of the Aflac duck. It didn’t require a person to be a working actor, or a famous person, in order to audition. Over 12,500 people tried out.
This week, the brand new voice of the Aflac duck was announced. The insurance company has selected Dan McKeague, who is a thirty six year old father of three. He is a sales manager at KQRS and Love radio stations in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Want to hear what the new voice sounds like? Check out a video featuring it on the Facebook page for the Aflac Duck.
Image by くーさん on Flickr