Romance icon Fabio stars in new 'Life Comes at You Fast(R)' spot COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company continues its award-winning Life Comes at You Fast advertising campaign with its first ever national Super Bowl ad. The ad features international romance icon and multimedia star, Fabio. In keeping with its unique campaign of the last two years, Nationwide ads use humor to make an important point: Life Comes at You Fast - often before you realize it. Whether it's getting married, having a child, buying a new home, or saving for college or retirement, advance preparation is key, especially when it comes to insurance and financial planning. The Super Bowl ad begins with a "misdirect," typical of other spots in the Life Comes at You Fast campaign, where viewers believe they are seeing an ad for something else entirely before finding out they're watching a Nationwide ad. Fabio floats on a gondola through the canals of Venice with his love interest. A voice suggests that Fabio is introducing his own line of shampoo. Just as viewers become convinced they are watching an over-the-top shampoo ad, the gondola passes under a bridge and Fabio emerges as a 90 year-old man. Viewers are let off the hook when Nationwide's Life Comes at You Fast slogan appears on the screen. "The Life Comes at You Fast concept was created to remind people that they need to think about preparing for the future," said Steven Schreibman, vice president of advertising and brand management for Nationwide. "We're using humor and a celebrity to get people's attention and cut through the clutter with a very serious message: You need to be prepared for life to change, because change is inevitable." This is the third consecutive year of the Life Comes at You Fast advertising campaign, produced by T:M Advertising of Dallas, and Nationwide's most aggressive brand advertising push ever. In addition to the Super Bowl, Nationwide's 2006 ad buy will include 46 regional markets, national cable, national internet and regional advertising during the Olympics. The Fabio spot will be one of a series of new Life Comes at You Fast ads. This is the second Nationwide ad to feature a well-known celebrity. Rapper M.C. Hammer was the star of the 2005 campaign. "I know from experience that Life Comes at You Fast," said Fabio. "I am continually preparing for the next stage of my career - taking steps to ensure that as life changes I will be ready for the future." The Fabio ad will run during the third quarter of the Super Bowl and will be available at http://www.nationwide.com/ after the television debut. Two other new Life Comes at You Fast ads will air nationally during pre-game coverage on ABC. Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the world, with more than $157 billion in assets. Nationwide ranks #99 on the Fortune 100 list. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto, homeowners, life, commercial insurance, administrative services, annuities, mutual funds, pensions and long-term savings plans. The Nationwide companies include the country's seventh-largest property/casualty, the fourth- largest homeowners, the sixth-largest auto insurance group and the country's largest farm owners insurer. Nationwide Life Insurance Company, the major subsidiary of Nationwide Financial, ranks 11th in assets according to A.M. Best. For more information, visit http://www.nationwide.com/. Nationwide and the Nationwide Framework are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. On Your Side is a service mark of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Contacts: Mike Switzer (614) 249-4029 Eric Hardgrove (614) 677-8516 First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact: DATASOURCE: Nationwide CONTACT: Mike Switzer, +1-614-249-4029, or , or Eric Hardgrove, +1-614-677-8516, or , both of Nationwide Web site: http://www.nationwide.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/607050.html

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