If you can somehow find humor in the disaster in Japan, keep it to yourself.

Of course, you know better. Too bad a couple of spokespeople—one in the advertising realm and another in politics—do not.

The insurer Aflac fired comedian Gilbert Gottfried—the voice of the duck in its commercials—for tweeting several off-color jokes about Japan on Saturday. The tweets, which have been deleted, included:

“Japan called me. They said 'maybe those jokes are a hit in the U.S., but over here, they're all sinking.'”

"I was talking to my Japanese real estate agent. I said 'is there a school in this area.' She said 'not now, but just wait.'"

Really?

In a statement, Aflac Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer Michael Zunda said:

“Gilbert's recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac. Aflac Japan—and, by extension, Japan itself—is part of the Aflac family, and there is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times.”

Meanwhile, the press secretary for Mississippi governor and presidential hopeful Haley Barbour resigned after Politico reported on some off-color jokes he shared with the governor and his staff.

Like many of you, press secretary Dan Turner compiles a list of press clippings each morning that include birthdays, historical notes, and jokes. On Friday, he shared the following information (and joke) with Barbour and his staff

“Otis Redding posthumously received a gold record for his single, "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay". (Not a big hit in Japan right now.)”

Not only is that an off-color jokes, it also just plain lousy.

In an e-mail to Politico, Turner said:

“Look, I'm the one who started the lagniappe section; the comments are mine. If you feel the need to skewer someone over that, I'm the guy with the bulls-eye on his back. There is one person responsible—me.”

Well, when you wear a bulls-eye on your back, you’re bound to get hit by something, and sure enough, Turner resigned yesterday, according to Politico.