Aflac and its duck reach out to America’s Hispanics: Watch the ad

Oct. 10--Looking to boost U.S. sales and connect better with the Hispanic market, Aflac has launched a new Spanish-only commercial that will air through November.

The 30-second spot titled "Help" or "Ayuda" in Spanish, which is only the second Aflac ad to not also have an English version, shows a woman sitting on a sofa with a broken leg, pondering if she has enough cash on hand to pay her bills, including basic groceries. It features a concerned father, a baby wearing a diaper and the Aflac duck, naturally, injecting its own brand of humor.

(Watch the commercial: Aflac Te Ayuda)

The commercial aired during the Latin American Music Awards last week, which included an appearance by the feathered fowl. It will now appear on Spanish-language networks through the current election season and Thanksgiving.

"Research indicates a need to provide better education within the Hispanic community about the value of voluntary insurance products," Gail Galuppo, Aflac's chief marketing officer, said in a statement. "We want to share information with Hispanic-Americans in culturally sensitive ways, in their preferred language, so that families can better protect their pockets from the financial challenges of an unexpected illness or injury."

(Click here: It's no duck, but 'One Day Pay' promotion has had major impact on Aflac)

There were 56.6 million Hispanics in the United States as of July 1, 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with California having the largest Hispanic population of any one state. That compares to an overall "white alone population" of 198 million, 46.3 million blacks or African-Americans, and 21 million Asians.

Headquartered on Wynnton Road in Columbus, Aflac is a leading supplemental health and life insurance company that is heavily promoting it's "One Day Pay" initiative in which it strives to get cash in the hands of injured policyholders within a day of submitting a claim.

The company will release its third-quarter earnings report on Oct. 27.

Tony Adams: 706-571-8574, @ledgerbizz

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