• April 26, 2011

The Aflac duck is no longer silent.

After a month-long search that included celebrities, actors, professional voice-over artists and individuals from the general public, Aflac announced that it has chosen a radio station sales manager to take over the voice of the duck.

Actor Gilbert Gottfried was fired by the insurance company last month after making offensive comments on Twitter regarding the earthquake in Japan. Aflac is the top foreign insurance company in Japan and which gets 75% of its revenue from that market.

Dan McKeague, 36, of Hugo, Minn., a married father of three, submitted his audition online and was informed that he had been selected after a review of more than 12,500 live and online auditions. 

He will make his vocal debut immediately in the ad "Pigeon," where the Aflac Duck represents insurance coverage that includes major medical and Aflac, while a pigeon represents coverage that includes only major medical coverage without the financial protection of Aflac. The new ad will be available this evening (April 26) on the Aflac Duck's Facebook page.--Tanya Irwin