Monday, October 14, 2002, Volume 170; Issue 08
FORBES MAGAAZINE
Quack Flak Whacked Aflac
Animal rights group United Poultry Concerns is railing against Aflac
Inc. over its long-running $120 million television ad campaign
featuring a big white duck quacking out the Columbus, Ga. Insurer's
name as being a source of supplemental coverage. The bird is
sometimes depicted in dicey straits, like falling into the Grand
Canyon and hanging upside down in a bat cave. Animal cruelty? Aflac
says a robot duck plays the iffy scenes. But a UPC official
nevertheless called the commercials 'degrading' to ducks and says
animal abuse could be fostered. - Dirk Smillie, Forbes Magazine."
United Poultry Concerns - In a letter to Al Johnson, Aflac's Manager
of Corporate Advertising, UPC President Dr. Karen Davis stated that
"even if no ducks were harmed,* the Grand Canyon commercial implies
that the duck fell from an enormous height and landed hard. In the
final shot it looks like the duck was pushed off something about 6
feet high. Pekin ducks (the type of duck used in the ads) don't fly
or jump from heights. In addition, we object to your Natural History
ad which shows a duck (alive or simulated, but to the viewer, alive)
hanging upside down in a bat cave, as in a slaughterhouse."
*The Aflac duck commercials comprise live ducks, computer generated
duck figures, and animatronic puppet ducks.
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the
compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. For more
information visit http://www.UPC-online.org
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org
(United Poultry Concerns Campaign Cited in Forbes Magazine)
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