Aflac Impactfully Communicates Core Values In Animated Short Film

By Jordan P. Kelley, Content Director, Brand Storytelling

For Aflac, caring means many things. On the outside, it might seem that the provider of supplemental insurance’s sole commitment to caring extends to providing financial support during times of unexpected illness or injury. Look more closely, however, and you’ll find that providing such care brings the details behind customers’ needs into focus. Details like which communities are most vulnerable to succumbing to medical debt, which at-home treatments and illnesses don’t receive adequate coverage from the average insurer, and what kind of support it takes to create space for the afflicted and their families to recover physically, emotionally, and financially. Aflac set out to find a way to communicate the nuances of its corporate values beyond its existing initiatives dedicated to education and advocacy around blood disorder research, the medical debt gap, and more. The brand found its way with storytelling, producing the heartwarming animated short, “The Park Bench”.

“The Park Bench” tells the story of a young girl whose exposure to her parent’s struggle with her father’s sickle cell disease leaves her feeling low. Things change for the young girl when she befriends a wounded duck, who helps her through her family’s difficult time as both the duck and the family recover. The film is simultaneously universal and deeply specific, with its relatable themes of family caring for one another and seeking light in dark times communicated specifically through the on-screen struggle of an African American family fighting to treat sickle cell. The three-and-a-half-minute film is packed with the kind of emotion, heart, and detail that could only be achieved with the aid of elite collaborators like Disney Vet and accomplished storyteller Rob Edwards, Grammy Winner Nas, and award-winning animation Studio Lion Forge Animation.

At Brand Storytelling 2022: A Sanctioned Event of Sundance Film Festival, “The Park Bench” Writer and Director Rob Edwards, along with Lion Forge Animation Co-Founder Carl Reed and Aflac Chief Brand and Marketing Officer Shannon Watkins sat down with moderator Kwame Taylor-Hayford to discuss the inception of “The Park Bench” and how the right marriage of brand values and creative vision can coalesce to produce a story that deepens an audience’s understanding of what a brand truly stands for.

The first and best decision Aflac made when producing “The Park Bench”, knowing that they wanted to tell a short story about caring, was to seek out specific collaborators who, by virtue of the work they do and stories they tell, would bring deep, specific meaning to the project. Aflac approached Rob Edwards with the concept of a short film that would feature a couple of characters and center around the theme of ‘caring’. Edwards, known for writing the instant Disney Classic “The Princess and the Frog”, immediately started working out a story after drawing a spark of inspiration from images of George Floyd’s daughter atop Stephen Jackson’s shoulders exclaiming that her daddy changed the world. “The resiliency of that kid, the intelligence and amazingness of that little girl finding strength in tragedy seemed like a really great place to jump off,” said Edwards. After sleeping on it for a night, Edwards woke the next day with an idea for a story about a girl who finds resiliency through caring for another. “I think that’s what we do as human beings – we help each other get stronger,” said Edwards. “It’s one of the best things we do, it’s one of the most human things we do.” The Aflac duck, the brand’s popular mascot for the last two decades, signaled to Edwards that it would be natural to incorporate a duck in the story as the young girl’s companion.

Aflac was on board with the concept, and writer and brand jumped right into fleshing out visual and story-driven details – the types of details that often go overlooked in a traditional 30 second spot. However, Aflac’s investment in the film was, from the outset, driven by a desire to communicate the specificity of its values, and so specificity of story was paramount. Aflac provided insight and information into how to depict at-home care for sickle cell disease and what it looks like when a family is in an at-home caregiving situation, representative of Aflac’s support in the fight against cancer, sickle cell, and other blood disorders. Also, Edwards and Lion Forge Animation imbued the film with details that work to normalize visions of a version of African American life. From the way the family members in the film wear their hair to the furniture in the living room to the HBCU pendants on the walls, there is specificity to be found in “The Park Bench” down to the finest details.

“Aflac’s core purpose is to help with expenses health insurance doesn’t cover, so those we ensure can think about everything else,” said Watkins. “Unexpected medical events and the fallout from that financially impact Black and Brown communities and low-income communities more than anyone else across this country.” Aflac did the work to ensure that if a Black family was going to be featured in this film, that the creators behind the film needed to speak to that experience authentically, even more than just having Edwards write and direct. With animation coming from the studio behind the academy award winning short “Hair Love” and music supervision from your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper Nas, the complete production that is “The Park Bench” is steeped in authenticity. The final product is dense with intention, meaning, and emotional value.

Aflac exists to help people. Purpose is baked into its existence, but that purpose, when paid close attention to, reveals a myriad of definitions of what caring means and that the act of caring is anything but simple. Aflac’s film manages to, in a few short minutes, capture and reflect back to an audience both the fine details and broad message of the brand’s values all at once, speaking directly to those who can relate and fostering emotion in those who can only empathize. Trust in excellent collaborators and the crafting of a story with intention at its core not only made Aflac’s film possible – it also makes it a deeply effective asset in shaping people’s perception and understanding of the brand and its values.