Aflac Duck Returns

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The Story

Aflac Insurance has a new voice of the duck. After firing Gilbert Gottfried for inappropriate tweets about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Aflac recruited a new voice. During the situation with Gottfried, Aflac made good use of the duck's Facebook page: apology, recruitment, and annoucement. The company made a splash with a new commercial.  Watch below for the Dancing Duck with "new voice revealed."

Discussion Starters

  • How do you assess the company's Facebook communication during Gottfried's termination and the new voice? What are the strengths of this approach, and what, if any, are the weaknesses?  

Aflac FB 3 Aflac FB 2

Aflac FB 1

Assignment Ideas

  • In small groups, discuss Aflac's handling of the incident with Gilbert Gottfried and the recovery through Facebook. In what ways was FB an appropriate medium for the company's message? 
  • Consider the differences between the duck's FB page and Aflac's corporate FB page. Which is more effective and why?