• December 20, 2006

The American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, Ga., better known as Aflac, will on New Year's Day break the 28th spot in a campaign it started in 2000 featuring its quacking duck.

"Hero Duck" features a woman on crutches, who yells from her high-rise apartment: "Help, help, I¹m hurt and can't work. I need help to pay my rent, car payment and electric bill!" The duck comes to her rescue, soaring from the street to help pay her bills. The spot demonstrates that with Aflac insurance, customers worry less about finances and focus more on getting better.

The spot was already in production when Aflac named Jeff Herbert to the newly created CMO post this fall. Like the 27 spots before it, "Hero Duck" was created by the Kaplan Thaler Group. The spot will run on major networks and cable channels, and sports programming. -- Judy Warner