Prudential Financial is launching a new television advertising campaign, Race for Retirement, to raise awareness of the need for increasing savings for retirement, Prudential announced Wednesday.

The ads urge consumers to increase their retirement savings by 1 percent more of their income. The ads feature Harvard University psychology professor and best-selling author Dan Gilbert and were filmed during the Prudential 4.01(k) Race for Retirement in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 7. At the event, 5,400 people took the pledge and ran 4.01 kilometers on a course containing retirement readiness questions they could answer by running through specific gates.

Data compiled by Prudential shows that one-third of Americans are not saving enough for retirement.

“The purpose of Race For Retirement is more than just education -- it’s an empowerment campaign created to inspire people to start thinking differently about how they plan for retirement,” says Colin McConnell, Prudential’s chief brand officer. “Our intent is to showcase retirement as a solvable problem while creating a sense of urgency for people to take action, starting with the pledge to save an additional 1 percent more of their annual income.”

Prudential also has created a website, www.RaceForRetirement.com, where consumers calculate the impact of saving an additional 1 percent of their income.