Aflac has called it “America’s best job,” and today it was handed to a sales manager from Minneapolis.

Married father of three Dan McKeague will be stepping into the role of the Aflac Duck, the 11 year old advertising icon of the insurance company.

The man with the voice that catapulted the Aflac Duck to stardom, comedian Gilbert Gottfried, was fired in March after a series of incredibly offensive and all together not very funny tweets about the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan.

The folks at Aflac apparently didn’t want to shake things up too much, as new guy Dan McKeague’s voice and delivery style of the trademark “AFLAC” slogan is pretty similar to Mr. Gottfried’s.  Check out his audition video, which has McKeague showcasing a variety of utterances, one of which can only be described as “constipated Aflac Duck.”

McKeague beat out thousands of applicants to be the new voice of the Aflac Duck.  Over ten thousand submitted auditions online and many more drove to one of the 6 major cities that hosted live auditions.  CNBC reported that due to the job being “easy money,” several celebrities threw their hat into the ring.  Jeff Foxworthy, Norm MacDonald, Andrew Dice Clay and Richard Lewis are said to have auditioned.

The casting agent that ran the L.A. auditions noted that its not just about being able to say the famous “AFLAC” catchphrase, but being able to say it in multiple ways and also throw in all the random squawking and such.

As you can see in an audition tape, some hopeful applicants didn’t quite have that part down.  Note to auditioners: giant Donald Duck headgear will not only fail to benefit your chances, but will actively hurt them.  Think American Idol, dude.  Stupid costumes are a no-no.

Aflac has already made a new 30 second spot featuring their new voice.  It contains a talking bird and the duck break dances – pretty vintage Aflac.  The new ad doesn’t really showcase McKeague’s vocal talents as much as past ads showcased Gilbert Gottfried’s.  I guess they want to ease him in to his new gig.