Health & Fitness
Water Groups Join Forces to Conduct Public Education
"Respect Our Waters" campaign launched to educate area residents on the actions they can take to help improve the quality of water in area rivers and Lake Michigan.
Two southeastern Wisconsin water groups have united to launch “Respect Our Waters,” a multi-year marketing initiative to educate area residents on the actions they can take to help improve the quality of water in area rivers and Lake Michigan.
Beginning June 27, Sweet Water (the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust) and Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network (Root-Pike WIN) are spearheading a 12-week television advertising campaign that features a puppet, Sparkles the Water Spaniel, to emphasize bad and good human behavior. Jeff Cesario, a Kenosha-born stand-up comedian who has won two Emmys and appeared on the “Tonight Show,” “Late Show with David Letterman” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” voices the wise-cracking, always vigilant Sparkles.
In four, 30-second spots, Sparkles focuses his attention on the importance of picking up yard debris, cleaning up dog poop, using lawn fertilizer and chemicals responsibly and preventing oil and fluids from leaking from cars. The spots catch Sparkles as he drops in on area residents and trains
the humans by:
Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
- whacking a man with a newspaper who’s sweeping grass clippings and other debris into the street
- rewarding a woman with a treat for picking up her dog’s poop
- squirting a guy with water as he liberally applies chemicals to his lawn, after overfertilizing the week before
- shaking a noisy can at a man whose car is leaking oil onto the street
The spots close with variations of “This is Sparkles the Water Spaniel, reminding you clean water is all about proper training.”
