Monday, March 14, 2011
ANOTHER SEVEN ASTRONAUTS: Learning that Gilbert Gottfried was fired by AFLAC today for a series of NSFW tsunami jokes he tweeted brings me back to the whole "offended" vs. offended debate from Ricky Gervais and going way back in our culture, and brings in sharp relief the different between "oh-ho-ho, that Kathy Griffin sure is controversial" to someone saying something in a context that legitimately pissed off a lot of people. You can get away with certain things in the sanctuary of a Friars Club roast that will not survive general public scrutiny -- especially if the jokes aren't stellar -- and anyone looking for a career in the Obnoxious Animal Voices field now has a few more job opportunities to explore.
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As I said on Facebook, why on earth would you pay extra for Gilbert Gottfried as opposed to finding an unknown at the Groundlings and paying him scale? The latter approach worked for Progressive Insurance, and "Flo" requires much more range than the AFLAC duck.
ReplyDeleteAs I also said on Facebook, both the hiring and firing decision is mysterious. Gilbert Gottfried has to say at least a dozen things as offensive in any given stand-up session at the Las Vegas Hilton. I can understand the hiring; I can understand the firing; I can't understand both the hiring and the firing. What did you expect when you hired Gilbert Gottfried? Were you that snowed by his performance in Aladdin?
Those jokes aren't funny.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that was actually Gilbert Gottfried doing the Aflac duck.
ReplyDeleteGilbert Gottfried is a genius. Not offended. F AFLAC.
ReplyDeleteGottfried has said much worse things during his tenure at AFLAC (and, frankly, much funnier.) Is his real crime here the fact that he went viral?
ReplyDeleteI read that AFLAC does considerable business in Japan so the fact the offensive jokes were about Japan was the issue versus other offensive jokes about whatever else he tells jokes about.
ReplyDeleteNow the question is who is hackish enough to want to take the job of the AFLAC duck and lose the respect of his comedy peers?
ReplyDeleteFor a couple of afternoons a year, an extension on SAG insurance, and a few thousand dollars? You can't throw a rock within a block of a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf without knocking over a half dozen applicants like dominos.
ReplyDeleteAs Steph rightly points out, 75% of AFLAC's business is in Japan. Having anyone associated with the company being humorous about the situation there is simply unacceptable from a business point of view, regardless of whether anyone at the company was particularly offended by the remarks.
ReplyDeleteIn Japan the duck is a sonorous, gentlemanly voice. Any chance of that here?
ReplyDeleteinstead of AFLAAAAAACKKK it could be 'Aflac!'
Maybe they could get that guy from Good Will Hunting.
ReplyDeleteTed, exactly -- you can't not know what you're getting if you hire Gilbert, right?
ReplyDelete