Energy Hog is an energy efficiency campaign

Advertising campaign

An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...

 developed by the Ad Council

Ad Council

The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American non-profit organization that distributes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including non-profit organizations and agencies of the United States government....

 and run by the Alliance to Save Energy

Alliance to Save Energy

The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition consisting largely of industrial, technological, and energy corporations. The Alliance states that its mission is to "support energy efficiency as a cost-effective energy resource under existing market conditions and advocate energy-efficiency policies...

 that engages children and raises awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency.

The villain of the commercials is an evil pig named Boss Hogg, who wastes energy in the home (along with his henchmen, Freddie, Sammy Swine, Ivanna Hamm, Kelvin Bacon, Mork Pork, Hal Hogg, Penelope Pigg, Charlie, and small Energy Hogs).

The campaign is a non-profit effort with more than twenty sponsors, including The Home Depot

The Home Depot

The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services.The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States , Canada , Mexico and China, with a 12-store chain...

, the U.S. Department of Energy, and several state energy offices.

Goal

The main goal of the Energy Hog campaign is to raise awareness of energy efficiency so that people can save money on their energy bills which were expected to rise throughout the winter of 2005–2006.

Criticisms

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid

Harry Reid

Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...

and other Democrats called the new campaign "a toothless" energy savings program following an inaccurate media report .