Aflac is in the top three and receives an overall excellent ranking from ESSENCE

COLUMBUS, Ga. - April 19, 2005 - ESSENCE magazine, one of the most widely read magazines by African-American women, has named Aflac as one its “35 Great Places to Work.” Aflac ranked in the top three. For the third year, ESSENCE surveyed 130 companies to determine how well African-American females fared in career advancement, diversity, workforce representation, work-life balance and community involvement. Thirty-five companies responded. This is Aflac's second year on the list. In 2003, ESSENCE recognized Aflac as one of the top 17 companies for African-American women. Aflac was lauded for the career development and training, management and leadership training, and compensation of its African-American women.

“Aflac respects and values the contributions that African-American women have made and continue to make to our company and in the community. Because of this, Aflac continues to be an employer of choice for African-American women,” said Brenda J. Mullins, second vice president, diversity officer, Human Resources.

Some of the specific statistics ESSENCE recognized Aflac for included:
– 55 percent of new hires at all levels in 2004 were African-American women.
– 27 percent of all employees are African-American women.
– 10 percent of the highest-paid employees in the company are African-American women.

Allstate and Verizon rounded out the top three, ranking first and second, respectively. Other companies receiving an overall excellent ranking include: Fannie Mae, Bank of America, McDonald's, Merck, General Mills, Hewlett-Packard and Knight-Ridder. The complete list of the 35 companies appears in the May 2005 issue.

Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States and the largest life insurer in terms of individual insurance policies in force in Japan. Aflac's insurance products provide protection to more than 40 million people worldwide and pay cash benefits to policyholders unless they choose otherwise. Aflac's products are primarily sold at worksites in the United States. In January 2005, Aflac was included in Fortune magazine's list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For in America" for the seventh consecutive year. Aflac has also been included in Forbes magazine's Platinum 400 List of "America's Best Big Companies" for five consecutive years and in Fortune magazine's listing of "America's Most Admired Companies" for five consecutive years. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com.

Media Contact:
Patsy J. Thomas
Aflac Incorporated
706.317.6109
706.320.2288 (Fax)
Pthomas3@aflac.com