What about the trucker who just had to sit there while a waitress poured fake coffee into an overflowing mug? Or the egg on top of a diner table? The guy swimming with sharks? The wind-up brain toy? The geeky guy playing with a giant ball of yarn? Aloe vera tissues? Yes, all of these things are in the same “Retrain Your Brain” Virgin Mobile commercial, created by Mother NY. The spot is certainly unique, but that doesn’t mean it will get customers to switch from other carriers to Virgin Mobile.

“Retrain Your Brain” was birthed out of focus group findings that suggested customers wouldn’t switch mobile companies even if they were specifically told how much money they could save. So, Mother and Virgin Mobile decided to go with Brazilian triplets, Colonel Meow, and The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne.

Could it be that most customers just aren’t suited for short-term pay-as-you-go phone plans? (Shh, don’t tell Virgin Mobile). Regardless, the spot looks like a surrealist drug sequence from a bad student film. If you’re going to include Brazilian triplets, you might as well use them. Credits after the jump.

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Anyone who’s gone running after a hard day knows the power of an active imagination. With every arm pump, you might be punching your boss in the face. With every stride, you’re building yourself into the powerhouse that will soon confront your boyfriend about his lack of follow-through.  Some picture themselves as superheroes, sprinting through the streets to make the ultimate rescue. When we push our bodies, our minds make the physical effort possible–and even fun.

W+K’s latest spots for Nike+ helps bring those mental adventures to life. The star runners of their TV ads are in a real-life video game, leaping up palettes and climbing through windows as they complete their workouts. Nike+ helps runners measure, map, track and share their runs, gamifying the work out process and inspiring everyday runners to reach farther.

My only complaint with both ‘Game on World’ and ‘Run Your City’ is their weak music selection. I get that they’re going for a tinkery game soundtrack, but I would rather they forfeit the game theme in favor of some motivational (and still techno-flavored) Diplo or bouncy pop Walk the Moon.

Credits and ‘Game on World’ video after the jump.

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Following the reveal trailer that aired during last night’s NBA playoffs and showed actual game play, Activision has now unveiled the full-length, two-minute documentary for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 which was created by The Ant Farm and 72andSunny. Shot in Washington D.C. and featuring an appearance from none other than good ol’ Ollie North, the online film dramatically details the weapons of the future and looks realistic and grim enough to have us believe we’ll be wandering the desolate road with Viggo Mortensen and his son in the coming years. Check out credits if so inclined after the jump.

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-Nissan takes out an ad to celebrate its recognized ad campaign from TBWA\Chiat\Day LA (above). link

-How do you “rebrand baby girls?” Fast Company puts ad agencies to the test. link

-Matt Spielman joined Publicis-owned, Atlanta-based Moxie as SVP, strategy director and overall business leader for L’Oréal.

-Mark Gethin was named U.S. creative director of color grading at bi-coastal VFX/digital studio MPC. link

-NYC-based agency Noise welcomed Cory Berger VP of marketing and biz dev.

-Could we see a Droid 4 from Motorola in December? link

-Washington Square Films signed director Paul Iannacchino for commercial representation.

Four months after officially being named AOR for highway exit fave Cracker Barrel, Euro RSCG Chicago has rolled out its first work for the restaurant chain and dare we say, it’s nothing you’d expect from a brand that thrives on its “Old Country” style. When this spot first arrived in our tips box a week ago, we shrugged it off simply because it was a Cracker Barrel ad. But after a second glance at the “Handcrafted” work above as well as the one below, we were pleasantly surprised by the executions that reflected CB’s down-home style (including its trademark shadow boxes) but were visually appealing at the same time.

The kaleidoscopic presentation of the ads (courtesy of Paranoid director Nieto) is only improved by the musical accompaniment, especially with the spot below called “Home,” which makes us want to revisit our Fleet Foxes records immediately. It looks like Euro Chi CCO Jason Peterson and his crew may have themselves a winning formula, at least for this client. Credits after the jump.

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“Mom jeans” are pretty bad, but as a young man frightened of losing all fashion sense with age, I have to say that I am personally more terrified of finding myself wearing a pair of dreaded “dad shorts.” At what average age do you think most women start hiking up their baggy pants as high as possible and most men think the that world wants to see their hairy thighs?

In Venables Bell & Partners’ first work for eBay, the San Francisco agency is introducing the online store’s new app for impulse shopping. The “When it’s on your mind, it’s on eBay” campaign debuts tonight with three spots from VB&P, each showing someone trying to keep up with today’s trends by instantly purchasing products from eBay. Says VB&P co-founder and ECD Paul Venables: “When the company that revolutionized how people shop asks you to do something big and new, you get excited. For this campaign, we tapped into the psyche of passionate shoppers and then demonstrated why eBay is the answer.”

In the announce, VB&G cites a statistic that says 60 percent of fashion enthusiasts and 65 percent of electronics enthusiasts own smartphones, compared to less than 30 percent of the general public. See two spots (one featuring an impulse fashion purchase and one featuring an impulse electronics purchase)  and credits after the jump

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Back in the early 2000s, the Honda Civic might have seemed like an appropriate buy for a street racer looking for a light car with a lot of engine space for illegal parts. But, we’ve come a long way since The Fast and the Furious, and this new campaign from RPA reminds us of the timeless adage, “To each their own.”

The spots feature five original Honda-driving characters (who each will have their own individual spots), the Urban Woodsman, the Zombie, the Monster, the Ninja and the Champion Luchador who goes by Cesar. In a statement, RPA EVP/ECD Joe Baratelli says, “We want to talk directly with our target by tapping into their appreciation for ‘collective individualism’-addressing the diversity of Civic drivers while also engaging them around their common interests.” On the online front, full homepage-takeovers are planned for YouTube and MSN. If RPA gets lucky, maybe the Honda Civic will become the go-to vehicle of Generation Y. At worst, we’ll see a couple more Luchadors cruising around in Civics. Credits and another spot after the jump.

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It might be odd to see venerable luxury car company Acura advertising savings these holiday season. But, agency RP& is doing that, in a strange and actually pretty funny fashion.

Seven holiday spots from RP& for Acura are being used this holiday season, all directed by Chelsea Pictures’ Rick LeMoine. As the ads state, Christmas gifts can lean toward overindulgence and overspending, or lead to simplicity. If you’re like me, the perfect gift can mean heading to the suburbs to find the last remaining copy of Mark Twain‘s autobiography because the entire city sold out weeks ago (oops). Or, if you’re just in the market for a simple luxury car (ha), you can by an Acura during the “Season of Reason.”

So next time you scoff at your friend for “reasonably” buying an Acura this holiday, remember, people won’t carpool with you because you “reasonably” bought a Toyota hybrid last holiday season.

Another spot and credits after the jump.

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This spot from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for the Logitech Revue with Google TV stars Ivan Cobenk, aka Kevin Bacon, who is an obsessed fan of, yes, Kevin Bacon (during the Footloose era of course) and uses his Revue to keep him immersed in everything Bacon. So much for a six degrees game.

Does this spot really show off the capabilities of the device? The message is whatever content you want to find, you can get through this device. Well, while we know for sure you won’t have a problem finding anything Bacon-related, it would be nice to see a little diversity. It would only help the product. Peep full credits after the jump.

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