Aflac has fired Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of their duck mascot after the comedian sent out a series of insensitive tweets about the disaster in Japan. The insurance company will conduct a nationwide casting call to find a new voice.
“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 Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Michael Zuna said in a press release. “Aflac Japan — and, by extension, Japan itself — is part of the Aflac family, and there is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times.” (One joke that Gottfried tweeted: “I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, ‘They’ll be another one floating by any minute now.’” [EW]
That’s terrible. The correct contraction is there’ll, not they’ll.
On the one hand, Aflac probably should have screened The Aristocrats before hiring Gottfried (whose named I just misspelled “Gottfired,” appropriately enough). On the other hand, Gottfried had the easiest job in the country, and all he had to do was NOT make a sex joke about the wet spot. Seriously, dude, your job was to say ONE WORD. “Okay Gilbert, we just need you to ‘Aflac’ in a really annoying way.” “AFLAC!” “Okay, wow. That’s a wrap. We’ll send you a check.”
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Follow me on this one:
Gilbert Gottfried makes 9/11 jokes right after 9/11: Aflac doesn’t fire him.
Gilbert Gottfried makes Japan jokes right after devastating earthquake: Aflac fires him.
Therefore, Aflac supports the 9/11 attacks.
I guess a ton of Aflac’s business is in Japan, but yeah, he does this with every single disaster/celebrity death.
They could change their name to Alfac and hire another comedian who peaked in the 80s.
So help me God, if anyone starts talking about how this violates his freedom of speech I will dump a whole bucket of lawstudent on them and light it on fire.
Also, this might mean more Guy Fieri Aflac commercials, so I’ll be dumping a flaming bucket on myself as well.
“Melmac!”
“….whole bucket of lawstudent on them and light it on fire.”
I think we’re all for lighting law students on fire.
/i kid, i kid…. don’t sue me, bro
Sign Ben Affleck! The commercials could involve people walking up to him asking for insurance and he could say, “He he…I’m Ben Affleck, not Aflec!”
Of course, if offending Japan is the issue, there was that whole Pearl Harbor movie…
We could have nothing but Japanese school girls walking up to Affleck saying, “tehehehehehehe”.
Affleck then looks into the camera and says, “I respect your culture, but I can’t help with disaster insurance!”
Too far?
*puts on monocle*
*rips off fake mustache to reveal a real mustache*
I blame the jews.
/fired
what… it’s no big deal that he made fun of Greg Giraldo when he died, but make one little Japanese Tsunami joke and everyone’s tears start flowing like a…..never mind.
I personally applaud Mr. Gottfried for a well timed pun.
Those jokes he made were funny. And he was making jokes about a tragic event. Anyone remember Carlin’s rape jokes? You can make jokes about anything, it’s ok.
I guess AFLAC is gonna have to find somebody else to say that one word in their commercial.
Seriously. The guy that said that one word was fired.
They should hire the GEICO lizard guy who got fired last year, calling Tea Partiers “retarded” seems a lot more quaint now than it did then.
Which is going to hurt their public image more in Japan:
- The guy that voices their duck mascot made some insensitive comments?
- Not paying everyone in full for all of their claims because of the magnitude of the situation?
Given the current situation in Japan, is there more rape underwater or on land? The water is pretty cold but it IS the universal solvent.
The “Dude, you’re getting a Dell” guy is furiously calling the AFLAC people.
Insurance companies are, uh, a little sensitive after catastrophically expensive events. Gilbert should be happy he took took as much cake as he did from that Ponzi scheme.
@essequemodeia
Clearly in the water, as it has always been in Japan. That’s where the most tentacles are. However, given the current situation, it’s probably even more lopsided now.
/Tentacle Grape price soars
I was more offended by how hacky his jokes were rather than the subject matter.
Aflac Japan — and, by extension, Japan itself — is part of the Aflac family, and there is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times
Ah… So its not that the jokes were insensitive or tacky by themselves. Its that the company does business in Japan, and we can’t poke fun at anyone who pays them. Very sensitive of you, Aflac.
WHAT A BRAVE CORPORATE LOGO!