Readers participating in the Consumerist blog’s second annual Worst Ad in America Awards have crowned Luvs “Poop! There It Is” as the 2011 winner, (above) taking 32% of the 115,000 votes and beating an AT&T spot at 23.98%, in which a wife berates her husband for signing the family up for unlimited texting. Check that out, plus this year's other Consumerist 'winners,' below.Continue reading...

No more edgy comedians for Aflac.

After firing Gilbert Gottfried for tasteless tweets about the recent disaster in Japan and launching a nationwide search, Aflac today announced the new voice of its duck mascot — Dan McKeague, a 36-year-old classic rock radio station sales manager from Minneapolis, MN, who beat 12,500 contenders for the role.

His first Aflac spot (below) will debut, appropriately, during tonight's premiere of The Voice — a competition to find America's next great singer — on NBC.Continue reading...

Aflac casting call for duck role inspires American Idol-type passions.

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BMW has a huge “green” advantage over rival Daimler, says analyst.

BP prepares to face investors’ wrath as Transocean executives to donate safety bonuses to families of Gulf blast victims.Continue reading...

Aflac continues its search for a new voiceover artist to replace Gilbert Gottfried.

If they didn't know before, most people now realize that the screechy, nasal daffy voice emanating from the Aflac duck in its commercials for the last decade was that of comedian Gilbert Gottfried.

They also likely know that, in a masochistic move that bordered on financial (if not professional) suicide, Gottfried inappropriately tweeted some crass jokes about the Japanese disaster and was summarily dismissed as the brand's mascot voice by the insurance company.

Little did he know (or at least, care) that three quarters of Aflac's revenue comes from its Japanese business.

Aflac, meanwhile, is moving on. With an advertising mascot that has literally been the voice of the brand for a decade, it's not about to let the duck die — or even duck the controversy.Continue reading...

America is the first nation to ban food imports from Japan's radiation zone, as tap water threat looms. The nation's disaster bill tops $309 billion and Tepco may receive up to $25 billion in loans. 

Aflac teams with Monster.com to find Gilbert Gottfried's replacement.

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Facebook and Twitter can't stop "poisoned links."Continue reading...

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Coca-Cola sees Diet Coke overtake Diet Pepsi for the first time.

GE, eBay and Aflac ranked among the world’s “most ethical” companies.

Groupon said to discuss IPO with valuation of up to $25 billion.Continue reading...

There are many good reasons that Aflac this week dismissed Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of the Aflac duck for his remarks about the crisis in Japan. And they merely started with the insensitivity of his comments.

Another reason is that Japan is where it does the bulk of its business, making the nation the most important market for Aflac’s life and health insurance policies — much more so than the company’s other market, the United States. While Gottfried was not the voice of the Aflac duck in Japan, the Columbus, Georgia-based company needed to be especially sensitive to any harm his remarks might have caused in that beleaguered country.

As its website notes, "Aflac is the number one insurance company in Japan in terms of individual policies in force and the largest foreign insurer in Japan in terms of premium income. Aflac Japan also ranks first in the number of individual policies in force among all of Japan's life insurers and is the fifth most profitable foreign company in any industry in Japan."Continue reading...