1999 was also a successful year from a distribution standpoint. Our recruiting was again strong during the year. We recruited about 13,000 new associates in 1999. More importantly, we continued to see solid growth in the number of monthly producing associates. The total number of producing associates exceeded 19,600 during the year.
Advertising is certainly one of the key drivers to our sales and field force growth.
But even with that success, we have taken a dramatic step to make our advertising even stronger. The centerpiece of our current campaign is the introduction of new commercials that are drastically different than those we have used in previous years. Although our previous commercials were successful, we felt that virtually every financial services company that was advertising was using kids and a softer, emotional approach. We took a more humorous approach to, but we still have an important message to buy supplemental insurance. You may have seen this commercial on CNN, CNBC or during the college football bowl games.