The Alliance to Save Energy's "Static Electricity House", a television spot on home energy efficiency was voted the No. 2 TV commercial in the world.

Judges and producers of "World's Greatest Commercials," which aired on CBS-TV on 11 May, had earlier judged the Alliance ad as one of the top 10 commercials in the world. Voting to rank the top ten was then conducted on the USA Today and CBS web sites.

The Alliance public service advertisement (PSA) beat all other commercials from top branded companies like Citibank to come up trumps. Other ads in the top ten included car manafacturer Mercedes' “Aaaooggaahh” from the United Kingdom, New York Mets dishing out ' Friendly Advice' and Argentinian Telecom urging viewers to 'Look at me'. Sealy's 'Boy' ad showed how the right mattress puts a hyperactive child to sleep immediately.

The Alliance and its ad agency, DDB, used humour to "break through the media clutter" in a "shocking" creative way as the TV spot focused on consumer angst over energy bills. "Static Electricity House" highlights a family's wild experiment to cope with high energy prices by powering their home with static electricity. It requires all family members, including the dog, to keep rubbing their wool socks on the carpeting to keep lights on and power functioning.

But that approach has many humorous drawbacks -- from a burning carpet to having all their hair stand on end. There are many other "shocks" in the process. And then, of course, a wool sock clings to the back of the dad's jacket as he goes off to work, briefcase in hand. The family discovers they need not go to such extremes when simple energy efficiency approaches and ENERGY STAR-labeled products (symbol for energy efficiency) are better solutions to reduce their energy prices, energy use, and pollution.