Duck
© Imgur
When we first saw this image of a duck entering the New York City subway system, we naively believed that he stepped right out of a children's book and was playing out his magical and triumphant story about a little duck in a big city. And what joy this duck was surely bringing to fellow straphangers as he waddled along to catch the N train to their yelps of "Only in New York!"
Breaking News: Duck really wants to ride the N/R subway http://t.co/HzkeLjvw57

- Travis W. Donovan (@twdonovan) September 23, 2013
But moments later we discovered that our new feathered friend did not make a personal choice to ride the rails today, instead he was forced to by the corporate overlords of one of the nation's largest insurance companies. Yep, it's the Aflac duck.

Out of Subway
© jacobsantiago/Instagram
We've reached out to PETA to see how they feel about a duck being brought into the subway system for a social media marketing campaign, and will update when we hear back. In the meantime, Adam Lisberg at the MTA tells us:
"Ducks don't belong on the subway, especially waddling through stations, and especially not when they're used as part of a publicity stunt that makes it harder for our customers to get around. We did not know about this stunt, we did not approve it, and we've made clear to Aflac that it was improper.

New Yorkers know that animals are only allowed in the subway when they're enclosed in containers that will prevent them from annoying any other passengers."
Now what do you have to say for yourselves, Lance Bass and Joey Fatone?