And the New Aflac Duck Is...
By: Yesterday Dan McKeague was just a married father of three working as the sales manager for a couple of Minneapolis radio stations.
Today he is one lucky duck.
McKeague has been chosen out of 12,500 auditions to be the new voice of the Aflacduck, a job that could net him a six-figure income in residuals. He has done local voiceover work and decided to submit his audition online. Aflac whittled the finalists down to 20, then eight, and then...McKeague. "Dan impressed us with his vocal range and acting ability," says Aflac marketing head Michael Zuna in a statement.
McKeague beat out well-known celebrities like Jeff Foxworthy and Richard Lewis for the job which Gilbert Gottfried lost after making jokes about Japan post-quake. Gottfried had been the only voice the duck has known since being introduced 11 years ago, but Aflac gets most of its revenue from Japan, so Gottfried's remarks turned out to be no joke. (Gottfried never did the voiceover work for Aflac's Japanese ads.)
The new duck voice is similar to the old one.
See for yourself.
Aflac provided video of McKeague's audition, the new ad starring his voice, and the moment where he finds out he's won the job...but only after one last audition.
One thing we don't know is whether McKeague has Aflac insurance.
If he didn't yesterday, I bet he's signing up today...
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