`Beatles' Announce Minnesota Life 401k Match.

Business Editors

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2004

         It was forty years ago today...
         that the Beatles first appeared to play...

...on the Ed Sullivan Show. The actual anniversary was yesterday, but writers of the Minnesota Life all-company meeting script didn't let that detail get in the way of a good lyric.

This year's all-company meeting featured Beatlemania Live -- a band that looks and sounds uncannily like the Beatles of 40 years ago. Once a year, Minnesota Life's 2,200 employees in downtown St. Paul stream nine blocks through the skyway system from the company's national headquarters to the River Centre convention center. At the meeting, they celebrate the previous year's successes and learn what percentage of their annual salaries the company will contribute to the 401(k) plan. Minnesota Life has contributed to the Performance Share Plan (PSP) every year since 1974 with a total of more than $97 million. This year's distribution is $6.5 million to nearly 2,300 associates.

Chairman, president and CEO Bob Senkler's announcement of the annual 401(k)/PSP contribution provides the climax of the meeting, which this year was themed on the Beatles' historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan show February 9, 1964. In addition to custom versions of several other Beatles songs, Beatlemania Live sang new lyrics to "Come Together" for Senkler as he took the stage, accompanied by a montage of photos of him enjoying various hobbies:

    He hit the long ball
    He an actuary
    He got tennis elbow
    He like lots of bird dogs
    He say one and one and one is three
    Got to be good looking
    'cause he knows PSP
    Come together right now
    Over me

The show also featured videos of Minnesota Life associates acting as Ed Sullivan and characters in commercials that might have aired on the TV variety show, which ran for 23 years. The Minnesota Life version of the Life cereal commercial with "Mikey" and re-writes of old Pepsodent, Slinky, Campbell's Soup, and Sominex spots each featured one of the company's five business units.

"We try to get as many of our associates involved in the videos as possible so the all-company meeting is an event they look forward to," says Steve Wolff, director, Communications. "We mix video, live presentations, and a variety of other media with a big dose of comedy to drive home our corporate messages. Our CEO agrees that humor is an effective tool for delivering and reinforcing important corporate messages."

Minnesota Life's award-winning all-company meeting takes weeks to produce and the efforts of dozens of associates every year. It is produced by Marian Johnson, consultant, Marketing Communications.

Minnesota Life Insurance Company was founded in 1880 and provides financial security for individuals and businesses in the form of insurance, retirement plans and investments. Minnesota Life serves over seven million people with more than $390 billion of life insurance in force and nearly $22 billion in assets under management. Its combined work force of 4,400 employees and representatives is located in agencies and offices across the country and at its St. Paul headquarters. The company is highly rated by the major independent rating agencies that analyze the financial soundness and claims-paying ability of insurance companies.

NOTE: A photo of Senkler with the "Beatles" is available electronically as a 300 dpi TIF. Contact: [e-mail], 651-665-7558.