Quacking and Tweeting

In advertising news, Gilbert Gottfried was just fired by Aflac from his job as the voice of the iconic duck in their commercials. This comes after he made a series of Tweets about the tragedy in Japan that I’m sure he found to be very funny, while nobody else did. Among the “hilarious” tweets that Gottfried sent out over the weekend: “I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, ‘They’ll be another one floating by any minute now.’” The dozen or so tweets, all making light of the recent horrific events in Japan, did not sit well with Twitter followers, news analysts, or Aflac.

The giant insurance company released a statement saying, “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...Aflac will immediately set plans in motion to conduct a nationwide casting call to find a new voice of the iconic Aflac Duck.” While I usually find media and public outrage to be misplaced (with people getting worked up over the slightest comment or implication unnecessarily), even I found Gottfried’s comments to be offensive and insensitive, and I think Aflac handled this situation perfectly.

Gottfried’s firing reinforces the importance of brand image in today’s marketplace. Did Gottfried’s comments have any direct effect on Aflac’s financial status or the products and services it provides? No. However, his snide remarks would have surely cost the company a lot of business from the outraged, and severely tarnished the brand’s image. Aflac is an insurance company, and one whose tag line reads: “We’ve got you under our wing.” Their company stands for safety and providing comfort in times of trouble. Therefore, nothing could be worse for Aflac than to be seen as making light of a crisis such as a tsunami, or the exact type of situation that they are supposed to help their customers in case of. Oh, and according to reports, Aflac does 75% of its business with Japan. 

In firing Gottfried, Aflac not only protected their brand image by disassociating themselves with such controversy, but also showed that they are responsive to their customers. In addition, their future nationwide casting call to find a new voice for the Duck presents an opportunity for an awesome PR and advertising campaign. 

Thoughts and prayers are with those in Japan.