The Aflac Duck Rings in a Magical New Year
Staff Report From Columbus CEO
Monday, January 4th, 2016
Aflac, the leading provider of voluntary insurance at the work site in the United States, announced that the Aflac Duck has a few magic tricks up his wing in the company's newest television commercial, "Magician." The new ad will debut during two popular New Year's Eve shows tomorrow night: "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," which airs at 8 p.m. ET on ABC Television Network, and "Pitbull's New Year's Revolution," which airs at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
This commercial is the final installment in a series of ads showcasing that while the Aflac Duck isn't good at everything, he excels at paying claims fast – often in just one day. The commercial reminds viewers that with Aflac's One Day Pay, there's no trick to getting paid quickly. In fact, there are just three easy steps: 1) Use SmartClaim, 2) Upload supporting documentation and 3) Submit by 3 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday.
"We understand that when a policyholder gets sick or injured, a wave of the wand can't always fix everything. But Aflac can be there for our customers in their time of need with a payment in as little as a day so they can focus on recovering instead of their finances," Aflac Vice President of Product Marketing and Innovation Keith Pellerin said. "At Aflac, processing and paying claims quickly isn't magic – it's just what we do."
"Magician" starts with the Aflac Duck on stage attempting a horizontal levitation trick that quickly goes awry, startling his assistant as well as the live audience. He then turns to a standard card trick, making the playing cards he's holding disappear into thin air, leaving behind nothing but smoke. Unfortunately, the smoke eventually erupts into flames. Two audience members are shown looking quite confused with the magician Duck's poor performance thus far.
For his final act, the Aflac Duck tries the disappearing lady trick, yet when he opens the red glittering curtains, his assistant is still there. He tries to hide her, but the audience members can't deny that the Aflac Duck is "not a very good magician." The female audience member agrees, but mentions that the Aflac Duck paid her claim in just one day. Shocked, the male next to her shouts, "One day?" before shaking his head in awe and quietly asking himself, "How does he do it?" as the magic show comes to a close.
An integrated marketing campaign will support the television commercial starting in 2016, including a new magic-themed digital experience on the company's website. To see the Duck's latest tricks, fans can follow the Aflac Duck on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Join the online conversation by using #magicianduck.