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Snoopy(TM) Stars as 'Mystery' Driver in MetLife Auto & Home's First TV Ad

24 June 1999

Snoopy(TM) Stars as 'Mystery' Driver in MetLife Auto & Home's First TV Ad

    WARWICK, R.I., June 24 -- For the first time in its 25 year
history, MetLife Auto & Home is advertising on television, highlighting the
fact that it provides "auto insurance the way it ought to be."   The ad is
designed to demonstrate that MetLife is about more than life insurance and
financial services -- it also provides low cost auto insurance and great
claims service through it subsidiary, MetLife Auto & Home.  The ad began
running Memorial Day weekend and will run in three pulses through the end of
November.
    According to Marshall Taylor, the associate creative director at the New
York-based advertising firm of Young and Rubicam, which produced the ad, the
commercial depicts the perfect drive:  a car cruising on a scenic coastal
highway, in perfect sunny conditions with beautiful ocean views.   "It's also
the perfect drive because the driver knows that he's got great low cost
insurance protection with excellent claims service - -  auto insurance the way
it ought to be," he said.   "We wanted the commercial to elicit confidence and
good feelings.   MetLife Auto & Home's commercial puts a positive spin on auto
insurance and incorporates a surprise ending - - revealing that the driver is
Snoopy! - -  making the ad memorable and effectively branding the commercial
to MetLife."
    "We are very excited about our new advertising campaign and we are
particularly enthused to include television for the first time in our
history," said John Rutecki, MetLife Auto & Home's vice-president of
marketing.  "While MetLife's brand is well known for life insurance and other
financial products, MetLife Auto & Home is not well known for auto and home
insurance even though we insure millions of cars and have been in the property
and casualty business for a quarter of a century," he added.  "This ad will
help us become better known as a trusted company that provides low cost auto
insurance and great claims service."
    The 30 and 15 second ads will be running on local network television
affiliates in the following markets:  Hartford, Connecticut; Tampa, Florida;
Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and portions of downstate, New York;
Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee; Salt Lake City,
Utah; Richmond, Virginia; Seattle and Spokane, Washington; and Madison and
Milwaukee, Wisconsin; as well as Rhode Island and southern New Hampshire.  To
maximize brand recognition, the company will also be using radio and billboard
advertising in selective cities.
    MetLife Auto & Home is a subsidiary of Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company.  It is one of the nation's leading providers of employer-sponsored
group auto and homeowners insurance.   Headquartered in Warwick, RI, the
company sells personal-lines insurance products in 50 states and the District
of Columbia through worksite marketing, MetLife agents, independent agents,
employee agents and direct response marketing.  With nearly $1.5 billion in
sales in 1998, MetLife Auto & Home is among the top twenty writers of
personal-lines property and casualty insurance policies in the United States.
It provides insurance products for the home, automobile, apartment,
condominium, boat, vacation and rental property, recreational vehicle, and
personal excess liability.  For more information about MetLife Auto & Home's
products and services, please visit MetLife's Web site at
http://www.metlife.com or call 1-800-422-4272.

    CONTACT:  Joe Madden of MetLife Auto & Home, 401-827-2015,
Jmadden@metlife.com.