A New Voice to Give the Aflac Duck its Quack Back

COLUMBUS, Ga., March 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac today announced its plan for a nationwide casting call to find a new voice for the iconic Aflac Duck. The company plans to hold auditions in six cities across the United States during the first week of April. Interested parties will find a complete job description and information about how to secure an audition appointment on Monster.com and at Quackaflac.com, where job seekers can also submit applications online.

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Live auditions will be held in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Austin and Atlanta. While these audition slots will be limited, the online casting call is open today and will remain open until April 1, 2011 at midnight Pacific time.

Since 2000, the Aflac Duck has appeared in 52 television ads and numerous radio ads, helping increase the company's brand recognition from slightly more than 10 percent to an amazing 93 percent. The Aflac Duck is also a symbol for the company's primary philanthropic cause, helping Aflac raise more than $62 million for the treatment and research of childhood cancer.

"Being the new voice of the Aflac Duck carries responsibilities far beyond recording duck sounds," Aflac Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Michael Zuna said. "The Aflac Duck symbolizes our promise to be there in times of need. It represents the philanthropy and the ethical values embraced by our employees and more than 72,000 independent sales agents across the nation, so we are looking for the best person to help advance our brand and business in a way that demonstrates our values."

"Aflac reached out to Monster because of the great success we've had finding talent for really cool jobs," said Ted Gilvar, global chief marketing officer for Monster Worldwide. "We are so proud to do what we can to help Aflac with the nationwide search for the new 'spokesduck' and also provide the millions of job seekers that visit Monster with a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Immediately following the initial auditions, a selection of candidates will be chosen by a professional casting agency, with the top contenders invited for a callback. Candidates will be judged on their ability to communicate an entire vocabulary in one word, Aflac, and how their voice can help the Aflac Duck sound informative, frustrated, happy, hurt, or angry, including grunts, groans, and mutterings, but no words other than Aflac. Prior voice-over experience is preferred, but not required.

All auditions — online or live — will be a maximum of 30 seconds and will irrevocably become the property of Aflac. There will be limited availability for live auditions, so those seeking to interview in one of the six cities where casting calls will take place should make an appointment by following the instructions on Monster.com or Quackaflac.com. Live interviews will be held by appointment only. The ten finalists selected for a callback will be required to conduct a second audition either via satellite or in person in New York City.

"The Aflac Duck is fun, but it conveys a very important message," Zuna said. "We believe this is the best job available in America today, so applicants should prepare like this is the opportunity of a lifetime."

While searching for the new voice of the Aflac Duck, Aflac is continuing its television advertising schedule with "Silent Movie," which stars the Aflac Duck in a scene that resembles an old silent movie genre film. In "Silent Movie," the Aflac Duck rescues a damsel in distress in much the same way that he provides a safety net for policyholders who are sick or injured.

Applicants should consider the following job description before applying:

Job Title:  New Voice of the Aflac Duck

About the Job

This position will be integral to forging Aflac's voice in all manner of communications. In this role, you will find innovative ways to use one word to convey to consumers that they need Aflac to complement their major medical plans.

Responsibilities

• Creates innovative and original quacking that helps consumers understand how Aflac is different from major medical Insurance.
• Strategically develops ways for the word "Aflac" to communicate that the company's insurance provides a safety net for families.
• Translates complex messages into a single word that tells people, "Aflac is the insurance company that they can count on in their time of need."
• Provides exceptional and creative use of the word "Aflac" for advertising in television, Web sites and other marketing communications. 
• Embodies the spirit of caring and ethics that Aflac is known for both in and out of the recording studio.

Special Skills

• Requires correct pronunciation of the word Aflac
• Must be able to present complex information clearly and concisely into an effective reading of the word "Aflac"
• Ability to improvise
• Skilled at making people laugh
• Unique and memorable voice
• Bilingual or trilingual skills (English with Duck and Spanish Duck)
• Prior acting and or voice-over experience is preferred, but not required.

Core Competencies

• Inspires trust and behaves ethically
• Is customer-centric
• Has a collaborative spirit especially when it comes to working with ducks
• Is creative

ABOUT AFLAC

When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For more than 55 years, Aflac insurance policies have helped provide a safety net and given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In the United States, Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance. In Japan, Aflac is the number one insurance company in terms of individual insurance policies in force. Aflac insurance products provide protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. For five consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies and by Forbes magazine as one of America's Best-Managed Companies in the Insurance category. In 2011, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the thirteenth consecutive year. Also, Fortune magazine included Aflac on its list of Most Admired Companies for the 10th time in 2011. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com or aflacenespanol.com.

ABOUT MONSTER WORLDWIDE

Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW), parent company of Monster, the premier global online employment solution for more than a decade, strives to inspire people to improve their lives. With a local presence in key markets in North America, Europe, and Asia, Monster works for everyone by connecting employers with quality job seekers at all levels and by providing personalized career advice to consumers globally. Through online media sites and services, Monster delivers vast, highly targeted audiences to advertisers. Monster Worldwide is a member of the S&P 500 index. To learn more about Monster's industry-leading products and services, visit www.monster.com. More information about Monster Worldwide is available at http://about-monster.com.

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SOURCE Aflac