San Francisco Hopes Sexy Voice Will Help Save Water, New Ads Say Conservation Feels 'Oh, So Right'
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— After a slow start, customers of San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy water system are starting to conserve more, but if they don't keep it up, The SF Public Utilities Commission (PUC) says they'll have to impose mandatory rationing.
But SF's PUC is at least coming up with a pretty creative way to create awareness about conservation efforts. If a normal ad doesn't do the trick, maybe the soulful intonations of a Barry White-like voice will sound more authoritative.
The PUC's new ad campaign is trying to convince its almost three million customers all across the Bay Area, to turn off the tap and use 10 percent less water.
A deep voice, sounding like a parody of the late soul singer is in the public service announcement saying things like, "Conservation feels oh, so right."
WATCH: SF PUC's 'Soulful' Water Conservation Campaign Ad
It continues, encouraging people to get on board by installing efficient faucet fixtures and to fix leaky toilets.
PUC's Assistant General Manager of Water Enterprise, Steve Ritchie, said it's no joke and that they're going to give residents a little less water, if people don't take the drought seriously.
"The last three years were the driest three years on record. We get another year like this; we'll set a new record. These are records we don't like to set, but this is a reality we're dealing with. This is a real serious problem," he said.
Just in the last few weeks, customers have been hitting that 10 percent conservation target, but with its reservoirs less than two-thirds full.
SF PUC's 'Soulful' Ad Campaign Says Water Conservation Feels 'Oh, So Right'
Ritchie warns if people don't keep using less this summer, the agency will go to mandatory rationing to survive the drought.
