• by Tanya Gazdik , May 7, 2009

The Columbus, Ga.-based insurance company has teamed with the film company to produce a 30-second TV spot featuring movie characters from "Up," Disney-Pixar's first 3-D film.

In the spot, the Aflac duck demonstrates how Aflac policies help protect policyholders affected by injury or illness. It includes the tagline: "We've got you under our wing."

The marketing collaboration also includes a new "Up"-themed paint scheme featuring Disney-Pixar characters for the Aflac 99 Ford Fusion that will be driven by Carl Edwards at the Southern 500 NASCAR race at Darlington Raceway. The race will be nationally televised on the Fox Network on Saturday, when the new ad will debut. It will then become part of Aflac's normal TV ad rotation, says Aflac spokesman Jon Sullivan.

Aflac announced the sponsorship of NASCAR's Edwards in February.

In addition to the TV spot, there will be a tie-in with Aflac's internal audience on its intranet site. "The TV ad is very descriptive, and part of the lure is the Pixar animation," Sullivan says. "This is part of our overall new campaign strategy called Wingspan. Our brand ID is more than 93%, but the Wingspan campaign is designed to take the ID to the next level and help educate consumers about what it is Aflac does, because we believe that when people understand Aflac, they will know -- now more than ever -- the value of Aflac."

The movie "Up" opens nationwide May 29. The comedy adventure is about 78-year-old balloon salesman, Carl Fredricksen, who fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic eight-year-old named Russell.