AFL AFLAC Inc

AFLAC Duck Finds Good Fortune in an Unfortunate Events Movie HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- This holiday season, while other poultry will endure the misfortune of being served up as the main course at dinner, the AFLAC Duck has found good fortune in his alliance with "Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events." In late November, AFLAC will begin airing an unfortunate TV spot, starring the AFLAC duck encountering an experience alarming enough to be right out of a movie. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041124/LAW014) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991206/PARLOGO) "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," is based on the first three books in the Lemony Snicket series, which was the first to knock the Harry Potter series out of the New York Times children's best-seller list. With rave reviews from the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and U.S. News and World Report, the books, which have now sold over 27 million copies in 39 languages, chronicle the inventive adventures and unfortunate events that befall the Baudelaire children. AFLAC is a leading provider of insurance worldwide, well known for their award-winning AFLAC Duck television advertising campaign, introduced in 2000. Famous for his starring role in these commercials, the AFLAC Duck has taken the next step in his career by waddling his way to Hollywood, and his publicist, Laura Kane, couldn't be happier. The alliance between Paramount Pictures and AFLAC marks the first ever marketing partnership between an insurance carrier and a film studio. With a recent win to the Advertising Walk of Fame as one of America's favorite brand icons, the AFLAC Duck, a bird of few words, had only this to say: "AFLAC!" Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures present a Parkes/MacDonald Production and a Nickelodeon Movies Production of a Brad Silberling film, "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," starring Jim Carrey, Jude Law as the voice of Lemony Snicket, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, Timothy Spall, Catherine O'Hara, Billy Connolly, Cedric "The Entertainer" and Meryl Streep. Directed by Brad Silberling from a screenplay by Robert Gordon based on the books by Lemony Snicket, the film was produced by Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes and Jim Van Wyck, and it was executive-produced by Scott Rudin, Barry Sonnenfeld, Julia Pistor and Albie Hecht. If you know anything at all about any of these people, you know they are all suspiciously successful, successfully suspicious, or both. Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc., one of the world's largest entertainment and media companies and a leader in the production, promotion and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and music. It is not associated with any secret organization of noble volunteers, and it does not employ anyone whose name is Lemony Snicket, except in certain instances. AFLAC Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is an international holding company. A Fortune 500 company, AFLAC insures more than 40 million people worldwide. It is a leading writer of insurance products marketed at the worksite in the United States, offering policies to employees at more than 309,000 payroll accounts. The company insures one out of four Japanese households and is the largest life insurer in Japan in terms of individual insurance policies in force. In January 2004, AFLAC was included in Fortune magazine's list of "The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America" for the sixth consecutive year. Also in January 2004, AFLAC was named to Forbes magazine's "Platinum 400 List of America's Best Big Companies" for the fifth consecutive year. In March 2004, Fortune magazine included AFLAC in its annual listing of "America's Most Admired Companies." AFLAC's Internet address is http://www.aflac.com/. For further information, please contact Gregg Brilliant, Vice President, National Publicity of Paramount Pictures, +1-323-956-5872. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041124/LAW014 http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991206/PARLOGO DATASOURCE: Paramount Pictures CONTACT: Gregg Brilliant, Vice President, National Publicity of Paramount Pictures, +1-323-956-5872 Web site: http://www.aflac.com/

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