It's not quite the Fonz, but Marion Ross, the actress better known as Mrs. Cunningham from the '70s television hit Happy Days, wants you to be safe.
"Stop rolling your eyes at me sonny or I'll reach through this phone and smack you on the noggin'," the familiar voice says at the end one in a series of radio ads about disaster preparedness.
Ross has recorded eight new radio spots reminding Illinois residents to prepare for disasters, like the floods that just swept across the region.
It's all part of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency's observance of September as National Preparedness month.
The spots will air 30,000 times over the next year, reminding people to have a family preparedness kit and prepare a family preparedness plan.
“As we saw during 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, catastrophic events can overwhelm emergency response capabilities and can force people to fend for themselves for hours, days, maybe even weeks,” said IEMA Interim Director Joe Klinger. “Having a preparedness kit and a family communications plan could truly make a life or death difference. We hope these new radio spots will pique interest in preparedness and direct more people to the Ready Illinois website for information on how to become better prepared.”
The campaign cost $220,000 and was funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
