AFLAC Duck is going to Japan with a new voice actor.

[Senbei Norimaki]

"The Japanese culture doesn't liked to be yelled at." "Gilbert might be a little over the top." "Instead the Japanese actor plays the duck with a moore soothing tone."

I also can't stand Gilbert. So I think it might be cool to hear the Japanese seiyu. The article is here. (http://www.cbsnews.com./stories/2003/05/08/entertainment/main552921.shtml)

[Elven Moon]

Hehe... "Afuraku!" :p

[Shnay]

I think it's hilarious. A few of my friends and I shouted "Aflac!" at each other in croaky voices for a couple of days (a mature bunch, no?). Then there were the bad jokes about Ben "Aflac!"....it's not really a moment I'm proud of.

Doesn't "toning it down" completely miss the point? I don't want a calm, relaxed duck telling me about the benefits of Aflac. I want him to scream in my ear in an incredibly annoying voice.

Also, it's not hard to see where the inspiration for the name "Gilbert" came from.

[kiddiesunshine]

Hah. That's a pretty interesting story. Maybe the Japanese don't like to be yelled at (who does?), but the duck isn't yelling AFLAC directly in their ears, right? I would imagine the phrase was recorded the first time and added in the editing process. Oh well. Too bad for them. They won't be getting the full effect of the commercials. Let's move on.

[Chris Sanders MSX]

Wasn't part of the point of casting Gilbert because he sounded like a duck ?

[StarScream64]

I didn't know Gilbert did the duck.

Anyways, wouldn't "toning it down" defeat the whole purpose of "AFLAC!"?

[Galaxia]

Anyways, wouldn't "toning it down" defeat the whole purpose of "AFLAC!"?

Probably, but who knows? Those commercials are hillarious though, especially the one with Yogi Berra.

Anyway, I wonder what it would sound like in Japanese..."Afuraku!" like Elven Moon said.