Communicorp, Inc. has learned that certain components of the 6” Aflac plush promotional ducks listed below may contain levels of phthalates that exceed the applicable regulatory standard and a component of the promotional fishing duck may also contains levels of lead that exceed the federal lead content standard.
- One Day Pay Promotional Duck
- Lifeguard Promotional Duck
- Accident Promotional Duck
- Heisman Promotional Duck
- PGA Golf Promotional Duck
- Business Promotional Duck
- Police Promotional Duck
- Fishing Promotional Duck
Ingestion of a phthalate or lead can cause adverse health issues, per guidance from the CDC. Communicorp has received no reports of incidents or injuries.
Working closely with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Communicorp has issued a voluntary recall of the 6” Aflac plush promotional ducks on the list above.
The affected promotional ducks were made available for purchase to Aflac employees and licensed agents through a private eCommerce website from 2009 to 2021. Individuals gave the promotional ducks away to current and potential customers. Pictures of the affected ducks are provided below.
Any person with one of these promotional ducks in their possession should immediately dispose of it. Communicorp is contacting Aflac employees and licensed agents who purchased these promotional ducks directly.
For more information please contact Communicorp at 1-800-642-3522 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time with any questions. Click here to view the Communicorp/CPSC Press Release. This recall is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
FAQs
Q1: What happened?
A. Out of an abundance of caution, Communicorp has continued to proactively test promotional plush ducks. Recent testing has shown that components of some plush promotional ducks’ contained phthalates at levels that exceeded the applicable federal standards, and one plush promotional duck contained lead at a level that exceeded the applicable federal standard. We voluntarily reported the matter to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The following 6 “ plush promotional ducks were found to exceed federal standards:
- One Day Pay Promotional Duck
- Lifeguard Promotional Duck
- Accident Promotional Duck
- Heisman Promotional Duck
- PGA Golf Promotional Duck
- Business Promotional Duck
- Police Promotional Duck
- Fishing Promotional Duck
All of the promotional ducks at issue were produced by a single vendor with whom Communicorp no longer does business, and Communicorp is destroying inventory produced by that vendor. Plush promotional ducks produced by Communicorp’s new vendors have passed comprehensive tests.
Q2: How dangerous is phthalate contamination?
A. Please see the CDC FAQ’s regarding phthalate.
Q3. How are these ducks used?
A. Communicorp sells the ducks as promotional items to Aflac independent sales agents and Aflac employees through a private website. There are several different versions of ducks; some of them are occasionally distributed at promotional events.
Q4: How should the ducks be discarded?
A. If you have an impacted duck in your possession, you should immediately dispose of it. Communicorp has set up a special website and a hotline (1-800-642-3522) to provide information to the public.
Q5: Is My Special Aflac® duck included in the recall?
A. Absolutely not. My Special Aflac Duck® has passed all testing done by TUVRheinland, an internationally renowned, 150 year old third-party testing laboratory. Additionally, all components used to produce My Special Aflac Duck® are tested on an ongoing basis and has passed all tests as recently as March, 2021. The My Special Aflac Duck®, which provides comfort for children with cancer, is not manufactured by the vendor whose products are the subject of this recall.
Click here to download the Product Recall: Aflac Plush Promotional Ducks (2022) PDF.
