This is a billboard found on the expressway to the Tulsa airport. You have probably passed one just like it on your way to church, school, work, etc. The ad tells you to drink water. It comes from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust or TSET,
They currently have one billion dollars in the bank. By 2025 they may have two billion. Of that money, almost NONE goes towards healthcare in Oklahoma. But they can spend money on billboards informing you that water is good for you.
It's time to take TSET's money and apply it towards healthcare and healthcare alone not on slick ads telling us to drink water, eat our vegetables and not smoke.
Here's a favorable media report from an NPR member station...
TSET, Health Department Ask You to Rethink Your Drink
Cold drinks are in order as summer weather arrives in Oklahoma. Just make it water instead of a sugar-sweetened option.
The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust and state health department want people to rethink their drink. TSET’s Sjonna Paulson says one in three Oklahoma kids and two in three adults are overweight or obese.
"For Oklahomans to really be able to live long, healthy lives, it's really important that we try to get that back into a little more balance," Paulson said.
Oklahomans aged 18–34 drink at least one sugar-sweetened beverage a day, more than any other state in the U.S. That leads to them consuming 38 extra pounds of sugar a year, which can lead to obesity, diabetes, liver disease and tooth decay.
Paulson said water doesn’t have to be boring.
"You can mix it up a little bit and have watermelon-peach, jalapeño-spiced water, along with that typical cucumber water that everybody likes to drink in the summer," Paulson said.
TSET says water is a better option than soda, juice boxes and sports drinks.
