I just got back from visiting family in India, where life insurance ads are much more prominent than they are in the U.S. I’m not sure why, but I’d guess it’s connected to (a) greater cultural and other barriers for women in the workforce (meaning if a husband dies, a woman’s income is likely to drop harder in India than in the US), and (b) the fact that a larger proportion of people have significantly boosted their economic status in the last generation, and are afraid of backsliding.

Anyway, this insurance provider named HDFC has been running a cross-media (print, TV, billboards) campaign featuring a father saying “No matter what, my family will live with pride.”

Here’s an example of a print placement: http://www.afaqs.com/perl/advertising/creative_showcase/?id=8393&media=Print

I really like the ads, in that they seem both very human and chillingly effective, in the way it makes the viewer question the financial legacy he or she may leave behind. A legacy of values or faith isn’t the same thing as money, but some of that parental worry probably comes from the same place — wanting to know that they’ll have the benefit of what you’ve worked toward.