The Aflac CEO Who Ruffled Feathers With His Duck Ads

The long-running campaign is one reason Mr. Amos has run Aflac longer than any other Fortune 200 company leader except

Warren Buffett.

Total shareholder return for the supplemental-insurance provider, based in Columbus, Ga., was 9,235% between his 1990 debut as CEO and the end of 2021. The S&P 500 returned 2,586% in the same span.

“I like to manage risks [since] everything we do is risk related,” says Mr. Amos, who only wears ties decorated with ducks. If you avoid risks, “you are really not taking a broad enough perspective for a company to succeed,” he adds.

Mr. Amos, now 70, learned to evaluate risks while studying risk management and insurance at the University of Georgia’s business school. He says he never risks a lot for a little nor more than he can afford to lose. And he always weighs the odds. “I live those risk principles every day of my life,” he adds.

An independent sales agent for Aflac during several college summers, Mr. Amos joined full-time as an assistant sales manager following graduation.

“If you don’t do well, I will take you out,” warned his father, an Aflac executive and co-founder.

But the termination threat didn’t frighten the younger man. Sales “felt like a natural fit,” Mr. Amos recalls. “I enjoyed that job as much as I enjoyed being CEO.”

He spent a decade in Aflac sales roles before being named its president. The veteran salesman took over the corner office on his 39th birthday. Selling fellow Aflac directors on the silly duck commercial wasn’t easy, however.

“They didn’t get it at all,” Mr. Amos says. “Everybody was a nervous wreck.” He limited the risk that the brash campaign might damage Aflac’s brand by preparing to quickly replace the ads if they flopped.

In 2008, Mr. Amos attracted attention again. Aflac became the first public American company to give investors an advisory vote on top officers’ compensation. Their pay packages won overwhelming approval from shareholders at Aflac’s annual meeting that spring.

Some of the CEO’s mentors counseled him that the “say-on-pay” vote was the right thing to do—even though he knew “it would ruffle feathers outside of the company,” he says. “In hindsight, it was definitely worth the risk.”

Here are four of his closest advisers:

Betty Hudson

Retired chief communications officer of National Geographic Society and retired Aflac director

They served together in student government at the University of Georgia. Mr. Amos recruited her to Aflac’s board in 1990. She then was senior vice president of corporate communications for NBC; Aflac owned seven TV stations.

Ms. Hudson’s crisis-management skills helped him deal with a messy situation 21 years later. That’s when comedian Gilbert Gottfried, the longtime voice of the Aflac duck, tweeted offensive comments about tsunami victims in Japan—Aflac’s biggest market.

“The sooner the better, move on,” Ms. Hudson urged Mr. Amos. Within an hour, he fired Mr. Gottfried and pulled duck commercials featuring the comedian’s voice off the air. The company found someone new to do the voice.

She also persuaded the CEO to expand his employer’s environmental initiatives based on her National Geographic experiences. At his recommendation, the Aflac board created a “green” committee that Ms. Hudson initially chaired. The company’s subsequent significant efforts included reduced paper consumption and collecting plastic recyclables that others use to generate power.

William G. Woods

Director Emeritus of Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

As a major center donor, Mr. Amos interviewed the physician for its highest position in 2000. The center specializes in treating and researching serious pediatric diseases.

The new director worked hard to combine two groups of medical specialists with disparate backgrounds into a single hematology and oncology program. He says he fostered respect for both sides, equalized pay schedules and standardized certain procedures. The gradual process was “more evolution than revolution,” Dr. Woods continues.

These days, Mr. Amos applies a similar hands-on approach while he integrates acquisitions. “It’s important to bring those cultures together” with a personal touch, the Aflac chief says. “Bill was marvelous at that.”

James H. Blanchard

Vice chairman of Covey Equity and retired chairman and CEO of

Synovus Financial Corp.

The Georgia executives have known each other for decades. They’re also distantly related by marriage.

Mr. Blanchard led Synovus for 35 years before stepping down as CEO in 2005. “He always kept people updated,” says Mr. Amos, a Synovus board member between 2001 and 2011. “I learned how important communication was for everybody”—and why it’s sometimes better if a CEO repeats a point five times.

Mr. Amos sought his mentor’s assistance after Aflac repeatedly failed to land a spot alongside Synovus on Fortune magazine’s lineup of 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Mr. Blanchard suggested his protégé assemble a diverse team to offer the judges a detailed presentation about how Aflac prioritizes its employees, Mr. Amos says: “We made it to the list our first year after getting Jim’s advice.”

Robert Benjamin Johnson

Former staffer for two U.S. presidents and retired Aflac director

An independent Aflac director proposed Mr. Johnson for a board seat—which he accepted in 2002 and held until 2020.

The lifelong Democrat had worked in the White House during the Carter and Clinton administrations. Mr. Amos appreciates that he knows “how to handle the political environment” and find common ground.

Mr. Johnson encouraged the Aflac leader to react in a balanced way when Georgia Republicans pushed to change the state’s voting rights law last year. Civil-rights activists viewed such revisions as racist and restrictive.

“Many Georgia companies were under fire to take a position on the proposed changes,” Mr. Johnson says. Aflac didn’t.

Instead, the insurer issued a neutral news release shortly before Georgia enacted the changes in March 2021. Aflac favored making voting easy and accessible while “maintaining the security and transparency of the voting process,” the release stated.

“That shows the brilliance of Dan” because the company must work with Democrats and Republicans, Mr. Johnson goes on. “It takes two wings to fly the duck.”

Write to Joann S. Lublin at [email protected]