Sultry San Francisco Ads To Encourage Water Saving Could Make You Blush
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- We've all been told many times to save water during this historic drought, but it can sometimes sound like a broken record. So in clever San Francisco fashion, the city is using a certain kind of appeal to make water conservation more, well, "sexy."
In the middle of a dry summer, a plug to save water hit Bay Area televisions last summer, leaving viewers blushing.
And now employees over at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission are at it again with a billboard campaign rolling out this week at Muni stations and on TV.
"This campaign worked," said SFPUC spokesperson Tyrone Jue. "We want to use the same provocative theme to get people involved and engaged again."
From "Nozzle your hose, limit outdoor watering" to "Go full frontal, upgrade your washer," these ones are racier than ever.
"It's a direct attack on getting appliances upgraded to be most efficient as possible," Jue said.
And the PUC says they work. San Francisco is saving water better than most in the state.
But do the ads go too far? Apparently not.
Some people laughed it off calling the ads "short and steamy," while others preferred to call them "scandalous."
Regardless, San Francisco is on track to save 12 billion gallons of water by year's end. The hope is these ads will help. But for that to happen, you have to get the joke.
"Yeah, I'm really tuned into innuendos," said one passerby, "but I didn't really pick up on it honestly."
The city spent $300,000 on this latest ad blitz.
