I remember having a conversation with someone five years ago where I said the Aflac duck might not be the best logo for Aflac, since it doesn’t tell you anything about what the company actually does. This person smugly told me I was an idiot, because the Aflac duck was the most recognizable logo in the country. Maybe so, I said; people may recognize the duck, but do they know what the company does? What does it help you to have people recognize the duck if they’re never going to use your goods or services? (I have a similar problem with ads that are kind of funny, but afterwards you can’t even remember, if you even noticed in the first place, what the product it was advertising even was. I mention this to ad creatives, and they say: “It doesn’t matter.” Really? Then what are they paying you for? Advertising spots aren’t just supposed to be annoying TV show interruptions, are they? Or maybe they are just supposed to irritate us, and the idea of selling products or raising brand awareness is a purely incidental side-effect that should be eradicated immediately, since it blunts the impact of its intended aggravating quality.) And in fact, shortly after that, there was a big article about how everyone knew the duck, but nobody knew or cared about what Aflac was or what it did. So their ad people tried to make up for this by explaining it in their ads in a fun, playful way, and by now I think pretty much everyone finally does know about Aflac. But it took a long time to get us to associate the duck with the company’s function, and that could have been easily avoided had they selected a more appropriate logo.
My original point about the duck was that while the duck may be recognizable, if it doesn’t help explain what your company does, then you’re going to have to spend a lot of time and advertising dollars explaining it, which is exactly what ended up happening. If they had chosen a logo that looked more insurance-related, like maybe a team of firemen holding one of those circular trampoline-type thingys that people jump out of buildings onto {like a “catch-you-when-you-fall” kind of idea}, I think it might have sort-of explained itself better, and they could have used less air time beating it into people’s heads for so many years before they understood or remembered what Aflac is selling. The problem with the duck is that it’s a non-sequitur, and while I love non-sequiturs in comedy, I don’t find them as useful in corporate identity. Basically, the logo designers were being lazy; they didn’t know what to do, and Aflac sounds kind-of like “Quack quack”, so they said: “Fine, let’s make it a duck.” But creating a logo or mascot for Aflac that was somehow related to what their product or service is would have been a lot more effective, in my opinion.
Even a guy holding a checkbook would have been a more appropriate logo for Aflac, since what they primarily do is give you money when you’re hurt or hospitalized to make up for your lost income from missing work, or to help pay hospital bills. Come to think of it, how about a doctor with an ATM on his chest like Darth Vader’s chest-plate, constantly spitting out cash to the patient? Or what about EMS Rescue guys who come rescue you in an armored bank truck full of cash? Perhaps even a Superman-type of superhero would have been appropriate, since you’d normally associate a superhero as coming to your rescue. They have an ad where the Aflac duck acts like a superhero (the best of these explanation ads), and that’s helpful in explaining their service to potential customers. It’s the best ad because it’s funny and memorable for showing the function of the company’s service. In my opinion, the best ads possible are entertaining and fun, and in their memorable story, they show you what their product is, and why you might need or want it, so that if you ever find yourself in that kind of situation, you’ll immediately think of the ad, the company, and the product. If you don’t come away with that kind of information, the ad, the logo, the money spent on them, and everybody’s time is wasted, including yours. That’s my story anyway, and I’m sticking to it!
