Welcome to the Sound In Marketing podcast. I'm your host, Jeanna Isham Owner and founder of Dreamr Productions and Sound in Marketing Learning. I create, consult and educate brands and individuals on the power of sound in marketing. Now back to the show. On January 1st, 2000, Americans got their first glimpse of a new innovative marketing campaign for a little known supplemental insurance company in Columbus, Georgia.
When a little white duck with a lot of personality stormed upon the scene, Aflac made advertising history and became an international powerhouse. Since then, the Aflac duck has appeared in more than 75 commercials and has helped catapult Aflac into a household name. We pick up where we left off in part one with Tom, Eric and I talking about what happened as the years went on with the duck as a mainstay. I've also sprinkled lots of fun Aflac commercials throughout.
The whole original assignment was for brand awareness. They wanted people to know the name. Has that changed through the years? It's been 20 some years. Is it more about performance marketing or is it still just awareness and growth, or are you? Well, we stopped working on it like 5 or 6 years ago, but as as the awareness thing, kind of it sort of resolved itself. Right? Because the awareness jumped so precipitously just within a short amount of time.
So then it was like, oh, I've now I've heard of that. But but what exactly does that like, do? And it's not like everybody knows what car insurance and everybody knows what homeowner's insurance is. It's like supplemental insurance. What's that like? Oh, does that make it sound like it's not that necessary, cause it's called supplemental.
So we spent the latter part of the, time we were working on it, having to have the duck be a facilitator for how, you know, people would learn more about the XYZ of what kind of policies they might have, but we kind of stuck to our guns with having the duck only say one word, which was the quack that sounded like Aflac. And we had to dig in on that because there were times when it's like, can't we have the duck, like, talk and explain what the benefits of Aflac are?
We kind of like died on the sword. No- it's got to be germane to what the original concept of the idea was. All the insurance advertising at the time was very serious. And now, you know, now there's Flo from progressive who's comedic, and the State Farm, campaign is comedic and Allstate and it's pretty much it's they're all comedic. And it kind of was the duck that ushered in that sort of like, oh, we could we don't have to take ourselves so seriously. We can poke fun at ourselves.
And I'll never forget I'm like, after we came up with the idea and I'm not sure of like, we had our commercial running already. It was not a short time after that. I mean, a very short time after that that I'm seeing Geico and they have like a gecko as a spokesperson. And I was like, how lame is that? It doesn't even like rhyme, with Geico like such, it's such a stretch because of course they’ve been running. Both of the campaigns are 22 year old campaigns.
Even insurance companies now, like, Liberty Mutual are trying to come up with their little characters, their Lemu Emu thing, which was their attempt at, I guess, and being humorous and having kind of like a spokes animal. But, you know, when we first did this and like Tom said, you know, they wanted, you know, how do we get people to know the benefits? How can we get, you know, we want the duck to talk. But but we were very strict. We had guidelines of what the duck could do and could not do.
You know, through just the way he would act and the way he would present himself or the way he would say Aflac or the way you'd see him getting frustrated, that was the way he'd communicate. And I think because a lot of people, you know, don't get heard and get don't get heard and get frustrated and have to figure out ways of getting through to people. I think they relate to the duck on that level because, you know, here the duck is giving them the answer and they're not listening.
Very determined. We were not going to have a talking animal because we thought that would just ruin the whole mystique of the duck. And, you know, it's the duck that quacks the name of the company. That's it. The other thing that we we tried to achieve was tap into this sort of universal belief that, you know, no, nobody likes not to be heard. Right. And basically, this is a duck going around saying, look at me like I am the answer to a big problem. you could be having. Hey, over here.
This idea of having like a persnickety sort of not listen to duck, sort of, I think, tapped into or hit a nerve that helped its popularity. And, and the other ingredient that helped that along to that end is that we casted, Gilbert Gottfried, who mostly at the time was a stand up comedian. He had been the voice of the parrot in the Aladdin movie, but he basically was a kind of, you know, filthy but very funny stand up comic.
And goodness knows, if the client ever, like, saw his standup act, they would have never okayed him, okayed him for The voice. But when we came up with the idea, I'm like, oh my God, we have to get Gilbert Gottfried and it turned out we both grew up one neighborhood over in Brooklyn. I had seen him performing since he was a kid. We did think that Gilbert would be perfect because he was loud and annoying and sort of like that was the part of the ducks personality.
So instead, rather than just give him the job and we wanted to do our due diligence, especially for the client. We auditioned like we auditioned like 2000 people, including celebrities like Penny Marshall and Dan Castellaneta, who is the voice of many of The Simpsons voices. We brought in voices from South Park. And after doing all that, nobody could sort of deliver it, what what needed to be delivered by Gilbert, which was to be funny, to be shy, to be loud, to be rude.
We would direct him every time we shot new commercials. We bring him into the studio and direct him. Say this way, say it like you're drunk. Say it like you are crying. Say like you're really even. Extra annoyed. When we did the roller coaster spot where he's on a roller coaster and he gets off the roller coaster and the duck is like, okay, Gilbert, sound like you're about to throw up. Relax. We got supplemental insurance. What are you talking about? Aflac! Nobody’d get injured in this work.
I think I was paying other expenses with this, with what. Plus they pay you cash. Great huh? Who does? Aflac! Aflac, ask about it at work. Oh, yeah. We did a synchronized swimming spot in which he had to say Aflac under water. So we had him, you know, with. We gave him a bottle of Spring water in the booth, and he he basically gargled the word Aflac. You know, some people don't think what we do is a sport that's just. You can't get hurt doing it. Otherwise, I'm not sure what insurance. Aflac!
What? Come again?. The one that pays you cash. Oh, yeah. If you're hurt and can't work. Yeah, it's. What? Aflac. Ask about it at work. And he was, like, nonstop in the booth, gargling with the water was getting all over him and everything like that. But we would keep having to hit the stop. You know, the talk button stop stops. Stop. Because he’s just so funny. He just would just go on and on and on and we got it Gilbert we got it.
And now here's the next thing you need to do by casting Gilbert, because I'm familiar with Gilbert Gottfried. Also, it gives you even more reason other than your others to just have him say one thing because, yeah, then you're safer and like, you know, network television commercials and campaigns. You've got it. You know, his one word that you just why do you think people connect so much to the duck? Is it just because it, like, jolts you out and surprises you? Like, why is a duck yelling at me?
Or is there something else to it that makes it more personable? What would your opinion be? I think part of it also was that people thought the duck was real. People thought that the duck was like, how are they getting the duck to do all these things? How do they get the duck to talk like that? I had a friend who was, I forget how old he was when the When the Duck debuted like five, 5 or 6 years old and was like, oh my God, they trained the duck how to say Aflac.
So there was, even though it was partially alive partially a puppet, and partially a CG duck, depending on what we needed, the duck to do, there was this thing that he became humanized somewhat by actually saying kind of a real word. And then I think this personality sort of trait that that he had, that's sort of like, you know, empathy, you felt empathy for him because, like, he's trying to get this message through. Right? And and no one's listening. And, and I think people relate to that.
And, and, you know, just the more he was frustrated, I think the more people related to it. Somebody told me kids or people would use Aflac, sort of like shorthand for like kind of yelling at their friends or at more being frustrated. Rob and the accounts person who didn't want us to even show the duck. I'll never forget she was she was in Italy online like a very long line to see, like to get into the Vatican.
And someone in the back of the line was pissed off and just started saying Aflac like randomly to give voice to her frustration of not getting in to see the Pope. How does the creative come? Do you come up with the copyright first, you come up with the A slogan is there music that you have? Like maybe playing in the background while you're thinking, you know, do you go to lunch at one of our offices? Used to be, right outside Bryant Park.
So we would just go sit in Bryant Park and work and, you know, we were, you know, very observant. And we looked at people going back and forth and seeing what they're doing. And we would just get ideas being out. You know, we got more ideas being outside and just, you know, seeing things that caught our eye that might inspire an idea. We also used to work a lot in Starbucks and Starbucks used to be all plush with couches and stuff like that back in the, back in the day.
And if you remember, Tom you saw that guy, he had a pet pig. This guy was dressed, he had a bow tie on, and he just was dressed like a character, and he was walking a pet pig in front of Starbucks on the street and said, I wonder if we could do something with that? But we were always out more then in the office, coming up with ideas.
And then music wise, if a particular piece of music fit, like we did this part called Silent Movie, which was kind of in and the antithesis to what we're talking about, sound like, how do you do a silent one with a duck? That says AFlac? We did the classical, you know, (Silent Movie Music in background) piano, you know, silent movie music and stuff (Silent Movie Music in background) like that. And. (Silent Movie Music in background) But I don't think music is really a driver.
I think we did a number of celebrities in our spots, but the celebrities were always related to a way of getting our message across, like when we did the spot with Yogi Berra, you know, because he always has a unique way of saying things. So we thought he'd be a great person to work with. Signal. Right? Not too close. What do you think? I got that insurance. What insurance is that Yogi? Aflac. The one you really need to have if you don't have it? That's why you need it. Need what?
Aflac. Well, if you get hurt and miss work, it won't hurt to miss work, And they give you cash, which is just as good as money. He didn't grow Aflac. Ask about it at work. I mean, when we sit down to work, it's sort of like it starts with, like, what's the idea? What? Let's come up with the good idea. Maybe it's a song that is relatable to the product. Maybe it's a mnemonic. The other kind of big campaign that Eric and I did that still on the air is, Napa Auto Parts.
For that, we came up with the line first Napa Knowhow, which grew out of a truth about their brand that unlike AutoZone and O'Reilly's and other auto sort of repair places, Napa actually hired mechanics to be in the front of their store. And so there were knowledgeable salespeople and not like some kid who was working at Walmart or Target the week before. And now it's the front of the store like an auto zone. Cardiology. I don't have the heart. Pulmonary doctor No cigar.
I can't diagnose a simple cold or flu. But if you. engines got a call, I know what to do. Give it six of these and wash it down with this. A new air filter. All to help it catch its breath. Napa know how. No no no no no. Napa Know How how to make sure that Napa know how. Aside from the alliteration of all the ends seeded in people's heads, we did come up with a song and we hired a southern band. I forget the name of the band Rascal Flatts. Yes. Yeah. Thank you.
So. And he came up with this song and then. No, no, no. Napa. know how? Napa know how. So when that broke, it also like, you kind of couldn't get it out of your head. And the other thing, you know, I'd say that is unique to those campaigns. And what we've kind of set out to do is that only, only Aflac could have had a duck quacking the name of the company that sounded like a quack.
So it turned out that eventually, ultimately, you couldn't ever separate out the duck from Aflac or Aflac from the duck. They became so entwined that whenever you saw a duck, you'd think Aflac. And whenever you saw Aflac you think of the duck. And similarly, you know, AutoZone know how it doesn't quite have the fit, the alliteration or memorability of Napa know how. So that only Napa could say Napa. know, how?
Because of their knowledgeable people and because of the alliteration of the words Tom said. Like the alliteration, you know, Napa know how and like, you know, you know how that just like, you know, is easy to say, like kind of runs off the tongue.
And then when Wendell, did you know, the Napa know how that just accentuated it even more in between, you know, it's own little memorable device, you know, from a sound point of view, you've done, you said, I think, 90 different spots for the Aflac duck. Can you both tell me what's your favorite? Do you have a favorite? I have like three favorites. One is Yogi One is, silent movie and the other one was film noir. Those are my favorite three. Yeah, I have to agree.
We we shot one and we had a 60 second version that was a total take off of like black and white film noir movies with a damsel in distress who's who's hurt and she can't work. And we kind of did it way over the top, which we tend to do. She was beauty, brains. And damp. You have to help me. I'm afraid I'm going to get hurt and I need cash. You have that insurance, don't you, sweetheart? What insurance?
Aflac. There's a rough. I couldn't remember what it pays you the dough when you're hurt, miss work. Come. Go ask about whatever. It's called. Ask about what it's like. AFLAC! And so, you know, sometimes we we try to find little. You know, genres to put the duck in, you know, and then, you know, and then we did a Christmas spot and, with Rudolph and we worked with the Rudolph people.
We did an animated Aflac spot with, that we worked with Warner Brothers and, and we had Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck and, Wilee Coyote, in that animated spot. And we worked closely with, with them as well. So when we first came up with them, we said, oh, maybe this campaign will last 2 or 3 years if we're lucky. Even leaving the editors, you know, when we finished the first three spots, we were in the cab saying, you think this is going to be good?
You know, you know, you don't know, like, who knows what's going to hit. But I, I yeah. And I guess, I guess the one spot we didn't make, but we tried to was using Ben Affleck about five years into the campaign, Ben Affleck was on like talk show saying, that damn duck is driving me crazy. Like little old ladies in the airport coming up to me like, Affleck Affleck Affleck Affleck. So we actually we actually got a, storyboard into his hands.
And he actually, he actually left me a voicemail on my, on my phone saying that duck is driving me crazy. So, yeah, maybe we'll look at it. It never got anywhere. But he didn't. He didn't need the name recognition like Dan Amos did. That would have been amazing, though, man. Yes, that would've been hilarious. Well, thank you both so much for your time. I really enjoyed this. I hope you guys had a good time too. Thanks for having us. We'll enjoy this year. Thanks for having us.
And you said for the exhaustive history of the Aflac, duck, hey, can't get enough. Well, I know, I hope you're enjoying the show. Don't forget to subscribe on all the major podcast channels, share with friends, follow and rate. Spread the word because, well, more people should know about this stuff. I know you know that. Now. For any other inquiries, you can find me on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
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