Any Mother's Day commercial with Susie Essman is not going to be warm and fuzzy. The Curb Your Enthusiasm star appears in the new online video below for Virgin Mobile urging young adults to give their moms a great gift this Mother's Day—by getting off the family cellphone plan and getting on one of Virgin's no-contract deals (starting at $35 per month for unlimited text and data). According to a recent survey Virgin Mobile survey, 46 percent of Americans in their 20s still receive some sort of financial assistance from their parents. Half also said they know at least one friend who is still on their parents' mobile plan, and 38 percent said they would hide it from their friends even if they were. Today only, Virgin Mobile is giving online customers 30 percent off the purchase of a new Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE to switch over to one of its no-contract plans.

A "Spock vs. Spock" ad should, when considered logically, be a complete nerdfest packed with inside jokes only Star Trek superfans would appreciate. Instead, Audi's new spot, "The Challenge," is a charmingly bizarre vignette in which two of geek culture's greatest heroes refrain from taking themselves too seriously. "New Spock" Zachary Quinto plays his part pretty straight, leaving plenty of room for the original Vulcan, Leonard Nimoy, to be straight-up amazing. With his chaotic mop of hair, gravelly grumble of a voice and inspiring rendition of "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" (from the actor's second album, released in 1968), Nimoy steals every scene of this nearly three-minute oddity. The spot was created by agency PMK*BNC and Paulilu, the comedy team behind Dollar Shave Club's viral launch video.

#UWANTIT? #NOUDONT. Grasping for relevance in the youth market, RadioShack serves up a strange, suggestive spot featuring gals in bikinis and plastic wrap dancing to Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and caressing phallic Pill speakers from Beats by Dr. Dre. The ad, which also stars Thicke, is basically a rehash of the artist's uber-popular "Blurred Lines" video, and ties in with a promotion that lets customers access a remix when they buy any Beats by Dr. Dre device. "I know you want it" is a key line from the song, and #UWANTIT is the title of the ad. The level of silliness on display makes me want to beat myself in the head with a package of D batteries (only $12.99 at The Shack!) Yes, the clip has quickly amassed 700,000 YouTube views. But RadioShack shouldn't get too excited about that, because I'm betting the numbers say more about the tune's smooth mojo and the sexy imagery on display than any renewed excitement about the retail brand. RadioShack comes off like an unhip, balding, middle-aged dude desperately trying to prove he's down with the kids—and failing badly. (Being unhip, balding and middle-aged myself, I should know!) The dying chain's desire for reinvention is understandable, but how tossing off quick-buzz pop-culture crap like this is supposed to help it survive over the long haul beats me.

Today in useless marketing-driven product innovations, we have Huggies TweetPee, a little sensor dreamed up by Ogilvy Brazil that affixes to your baby's diaper, syncs with an app and tweets at you whenever it detects pee (in the form of a higher humidity level). This will work great for people whose parenting consists of the occasional diaper change in between marathon Twitter sessions. Evidently (it's somewhat hard to tell from the case-study video) the app also keeps track of the number of diapers you go through, and alerts you when you're running low. That may be the whole idea here—getting you to blow through diapers quicker by prompting you to change them every time the kid pees a little bit. In that regard, TweetPoop might be more useful than TweetPee—getting the kid out of a poopy diaper faster has its benefits. (You could call it "DM Your BM.") The problem, of course, is you don't need a fancy sensor to detect that. Via Adverblog.

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners excels at goofy little in-joke videos about the agency. Here's its latest one—a Ken Burns-y mini-documentary celebrating the agency's 150 years in business, created to mark the more truthful occasion of 30 years in business. It tracks the San Francisco agency's entire history, from its apparent founding by Jefferson "Applejack" Goodby and Richard Montgomery Silverstein in 1863 through its greatest marketing successes—notably, the "Have you any milk?" campaign—all the way up through today. Pretty funny stuff. Credits below. Also worth checking out: a piece that Goodby wrote for Adweek a decade ago about what he hadn't learned in 20 years of running an ad agency.

CREDITS
"Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Celebrates 150 Years"
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Written and Directed by: Ty Bardi
Executive Producers: Tim Pries, P.J. Koll, Jon Wolanske
Producer: Katharine O'Hara
Editor: Graham Willcox
Audio: Nic DeMatteo
Director of Photography: Juli Lopez
Gaffers: Alvin Shen, Frank Fusco
Artists: Ty Bardi, Jessica Gibson, Gideon Newell, Chad Ford, Marco Mejia
Starring: Dave Baker, Tim Pries, Mike Landry, Jon Wolanske, David Sullivan, Jeff Goodby, Rich Silverstein
Archival photos courtesy of San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park
Special thanks to Asche & Spencer

Sometimes it takes a little boost to be better to your mother. It takes a legally binding contract. Luckily, that's exactly what Mother New York has come up with to celebrate Mother's Day—the one holiday when this ad agency is particularly pressed to deliver the goods. In the video below, learn about the "Momtract," a legal agreement in which you give control over one aspect of your life back to your mother—like the old days. The website explains further:"Momtract gives power over one aspect of your life to your mother, restoring her to the position of authority she enjoyed when you were a child. Follow our easy 5-step process, and start enjoying the emotional benefits of America's premier legally binding gift." The gag is somewhat reminiscent of last year's "labor reparations" Mother's Day stunt from the same agency, which offered a helpful form for you to "calculate and repay the expenses you incurred as a fetus."

I'm not sure what I was expecting from a retro gaming remake about Nazi robot armies, but this trailer surely isn’t it. (And that's a good thing.) Agency AKQA and production house Psyop have created a slick, compelling and enigmatically dark preview of Wolfenstein: The New Order, scheduled for release later this year. Wolfenstein is one of the oldest franchises in gaming, dating back to Castle Wolfenstein in 1981. Its most famous installment, 1992’s Wolfenstein 3D, allowed you to kill Hitler while he stomped around in a robotic suit, which was about as enjoyable as it was ridiculous. In the trailer below, though, we see a much darker and more ominous take on the Nazi robot, which is apparently the Reich’s foot soldier of choice in this alternate history’s 1960. The 100-second teaser clip is definitely a fine piece of commercial cinematography, but I remain skeptical that the new Wolfenstein—or any game about a guy shooting giant, goose-stepping robots—can live up to this level of gravity.

CREDITS

Client: Bethesda Softworks
Agency: AKQA
Michael Powell – Creative Director
Akira Takahashi – Creative Director
Ed Davis – Account Director
Paul Chang – Senior Account Executive
Andy Haynes – Senior Motion Designer

Production Company: Psyop
Jon Saunders – Creative Director
Lucia Grillo – Executive Producer
Jen Cadic – Producer
Jon Saunders – Designer
Edward Laag – Designer
Kenesha Sneed – Designer
Ram Bhat – Designer
Cass Vanini – Editor
Robin Nishio – Storyboard Artist
Eban Byrne – Lead Technical Director
Pat Porter – Animation
Kitty Lin – Animation
Eric Chou – Animation
Dan Fine – Modeling
Bryan Eck – Modeling
Jordan Harvey – Modeling
Zed Bennett – Rigging
Eban Byrne – VFX
Fabio Piparo – VFX
Jonah Friedman – Lighting
Andy Gilbert – Lighting
Keith Kim – Lighting
Oliver Castle – Lighting
Andy Hara – Lighting
Brandi Diminio – Lighting
Michelle Ko – Lighting
Nick Tanner – Lead Compositor
Bo Kim – Compositing
Tim Regan – Compositing
Tobey Lindback – Compositing
Nick Tanner – Flame Artist

Music Production Company:
COPILOT Strategic Music + Sound
Jason Menkes – Music Producer
Ravi Krishnaswami – Music Arranger

Sound Design Company: Defacto Sound
Dallas Taylor – Sound Designer
Ken McGill – Sound Designer
Samson Neslund – Sound Designer

Music Licensing: Brandracket
Chris Parker

Strap that lap belt tight, because Old Navy’s newest airline-themed ad will rocket you all the way back to 1994. Boyz II Men are the newest retro celebs to star in Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s zany spots for the retailer, which most recently tapped the supposed T-shirt expertise of Mr. T. In the new ad, 1990s R&B romancers Boyz II Men reinterpret their hit “I’ll Make Love to You” as an ode to white jeans. It's good to see them back on the air and still rocking the ivory suits, but given the fact they only have two lines of lyrics and a bunch of “loolooloo” noises, it’s probably for the best the trio gets cut off a bit early. They’re definitely an improvement over the perennial ad cameos by Mr. T, but in this series of pun-packed Old Navy spots, I’d say the best of the lot is definitely Jennifer Love Hewitt and her “flirtation device,” which you can check out after the jump.

The Prague office of Lowe and Partners heads into some dangerous airspace with its ad for the "relaxing drink" Zenonade, which apparently motivates a flight attendant to fantasize about all her passengers dying. Admittedly, I too find myself thinking we're all going to die whenever I get on an airplane, but I doubt this ad was delving into my paranoid subconscious so much as intentionally courting controversy. As a provocative ad for a new product, however, the spot seems to fail on two fronts: It doesn't do much to explain the product, and it hasn't even drummed up the outrage its creators had intended. (Agency CEO Martin Lochmann seemed disappointed when he told the Huffington Post that he “expected it to be worse.”) A related spot for the drink, which you can watch after the jump, avoids threats of imminent death—unless you happen to be a piece of Ikea furniture.

It’s been viewed a million times since last night alone and has single-handedly resurrected the voice of troubled literary genius David Foster Wallace, bringing his words to a global audience that might not even recognize his name. And it was all done without permission. “This Is Water,” a cinematic interpretation of Wallace’s bleak-yet-inspiring 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College, has quickly become one of the week’s most passed-around videos. It was created by The Glossary, a small video production shop in Los Angeles. We wanted to know the story behind the video, and the team that created it was kind enough to answer a few questions. Check out the video below and our Q&A with the creators after the jump.

The following email Q&A from AdFreak was answered by The Glossary's Matthew Freidell, director; Allison Freidell, producer; and Jeremy Dunning, producer.

AdFreak: How did the idea come about to create a short film from "This Is Water"?

The Glossary: After suffering through a particularly awful commencement address at his own college graduation, Matt came across DFW’s speech online and it really struck a chord. Ever since then, he’s listened to it periodically to remind him of the core message. A short film seemed the perfect way to spread this message to a wider audience.

This is a pretty ambitious undertaking, trying to enhance something that's already so powerful without visuals. Did you ever worry that even with all your skills, you might not do it justice?

Absolutely we were worried! Wallace has an extremely passionate following and we knew it wouldn’t be easy to adapt the original version. We couldn’t use the entire 20-minute speech since we didn’t have the budget, and that length of video is tough to release online. We had a ton of long conversations about what to cut, and it was probably the most difficult part of the whole process. However, we encourage anyone who enjoyed our video to seek out the complete text and experience the full message.

What did you have to do to get permission to use the audio?

We had little to no budget for this project and we knew that the publishing house was going to be really skeptical of our little company’s request to utilize his work. We had faith in our vision for the video and that once it was complete they would see that this was something made with the best intentions in mind. We are in no way making any money directly from this video; it was purely a passion project. While we had high hopes for this, we could have never seen all of this attention coming. Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Did you give yourself a budget to work from?

The whole budget came out of our pockets, but we had an amazing group of friends who helped us along the way. The cast worked for a small amount knowing that the project was something we were incredibly passionate about.

Were the talent auditioned, or are they just friends of the agency?

The main actors auditioned; everyone else was cast based off their look. We got extremely lucky with the talent of the cast. They all were able to communicate a lot with no dialogue and not much screen time.

For many of the commenters on your video, this seems to be their first exposure not only to this speech but also to Wallace. Was that part of your goal, to introduce him to a new generation?

Our main goal was to expose people to the content of the speech. But as members of a generation that is often referred to as “generation me,” we felt like this message actually changed the way we thought about life in a way that went beyond the typical cliched advice into something actually useful.

Prior to this video, your YouTube clips tended to top out around 1,500 views or so, with one or two exceptions. What's the impact been like for your business, having one of your creations go so viral so fast?

It’s a little too early to tell, but as a tiny company in an industry filled with so much talent and competition, it’s extremely difficult to get your work noticed. We feel like we’ve done that with this video and we’re over the moon with the response. But we’re always looking for what’s next, so we’d welcome anyone who enjoyed “This Is Water” to get in touch with us.

The full text of David Foster Wallace's This Is Water can be purchased in book form on Amazon. To learn more about the team behind the video, visit TheGlossary.com.

When Coca-Cola discovered that part of its classic logo looks like the Danish flag, the brand (or at least agency McCann Copenhagen) decided to make an interactive airport ad that dispenses flags. Why? Apparently it's a Danish tradition to greet arriving travelers by waving flags, and Coke wanted to help make a bigger show of the fact that passengers were arriving in Denmark, ranked as "the happiest country in the world." You can watch the results in the case study below. I personally doubt this hidden flag was a real "discovery" on Coke's part so much as a forced connection, but it's a nice gesture.

If the crowds seem larger than usual at a certain McDonald's in Warsaw, Poland, chalk it up to the menu. We're talking about a billboard-sized menu, hand-drawn in multicolored chalk twice daily by graffiti artist Stefan Szwed-Stronzynski as part of a campaign cooked up by the local office of DDB, art studio Good Looking and Krewcy Krawcy Productions. The goal, per the creative team, is to capture "the freshness of McDonald's food" and the breadth of its offerings in a highly flexible way. I'd say they've succeeded, but no matter what this McD's is serving, the menu itself is the special of the day.

Don't believe everything you see and hear in Draftfcb Toronto's deceptively clever TV and interactive poster campaign for Union Hearing Aid Centre. Known for its tricky advertising, the client's new "vision tests" display letters in successively smaller fonts in typical eye-chart fashion—but there's quite a surprise in store. Those who can read the final line of tiny type on the poster and in the commercial are told that there's probably nothing wrong with their eyesight. But they might want to visit Union and get their hearing checked, because a "really annoying, really loud high-frequency sound" has been playing throughout the test, and those with sharp ears would've reacted to it and likely sought relief before they'd finish the exam. (The hearing center ran similar spots last year.) During the eye-test phase of the TV spot, I couldn't hear the high-pitched sound; but at the end, with the ruse revealed and the tone cranked way up, making it detectable to just about everyone, the message got through loud and clear. And given how many YouTube commenters mention being annoyed by the tone through the whole spot, I suppose I probably should book an appointment. Via Media in Canada.

A Missouri movie theater today apologized "to those who felt they were in harm’s way" when cosplayers arrived for the Iron Man 3 premiere in Jefferson City carrying fake firearms. The incident was initially described as a "publicity stunt" for the movie's opening weekend, but Capital 8 Theatres says it was simply a group of costumed fans who dressed as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to make the premiere more entertaining. Unfortunately, several moviegoers were reportedly alarmed by the sight of a man walking into the theater with what looked like body armor and an assault rifle, which some felt was reminiscent of the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting during the 2012 opening weekend of The Dark Knight Rises. (However, some attendees and friends of the cosplayers have stated online that costumes were only worn inside the theater.) The theater has since been skewered in social media, sparking the following apology on Facebook: "We apologize and are sympathetic to those who felt they were in harm’s way with our character promotion for Iron Man 3. This was not a publicity stunt. We have worked with the Cosplacon group on many movies to dress up and help entertain our customers. We have had many complaints about the members dressed specifically as S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives carrying fake guns. We didn’t clearly tell our customers and some people didn’t realize it was for entertainment purposes only. We apologize that police were called to come out to our theater. We have a wonderful working relationship with the Jefferson City Police Department. Going forward we will take the necessary steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Security and safety for our customers is our number one priority. " The photo above is part of an Imgur gallery featuring shots reportedly taken at the theater the night of the premiere.

Triumph, a marvelously named Swiss-owned women’s clothier in Japan, has unveiled its annual concept bra, which might just be the first economics-themed lingerie. The Abenomics Bra, named after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's “three arrow” economic plan to achieve 2 percent inflation, aims to grow bust sizes with 2 percent extra padding. The golden bra features ceremonial Shinto arrows and is paired with a skirt adorned with a target. According to Triumph’s lovely model in the video below, “If a woman thinks she looks beautiful, she will work harder. And that will surely increase inflation and boost the economy. Right?” I’m sure there’s some evidence that attractive bras stimulate growth, but it's probably not the kind Prime Minister Abe is aiming for.

Gape in awe at these impressive "Windows 8 Training Camp" videos that dramatize product benefits through the goofiest of competitions. In "Makeup," three women have 10 seconds to apply cosmetics, with results that are hilariously mixed. In "Piano," we are introduced to two men who balance work and play by tickling the ivories while playing pingpong with their buttocks. They’re actually quite talented. And in "Watermelon," three skilled martial artists carve and suggestively finger some watermelons. Microsoft told bloggers the online-only videos were created specifically for Asian markets and were only posted to the global Youtube channel by mistake, but we're not buying it. While I don't speak Korean or Chinese, commenters who are native speakers of both have said on The Verge that the actors in the ads are actually speaking a fake language that's just gibberish, which makes you wonder if the whole odd-Asian vibe and vague backstory for the spots are signs that these were intended to be viral videos from day one. More spots after the jump.

Closing the books on a yearlong anniversary celebration double-stuffed with buzzworthy work, Oreo is now launching "Wonderfilled," a colorful new campaign celebrating sharing. The TV spots, Oreo's first from The Martin Agency since signing with the agency late last year, are infectiously catchy thanks to the custom soundtrack featuring Adam Young of Owl City fame. The premise is that passing along an Oreo could probably turn all manner of murderous beasts into kind-hearted souls. Who knew? "The ability to wonder is something we all share, but too often forget or ignore," the agency writes in its description of the campaign strategy. "Wonderfilled captures the universal human feeling that kids are naturally so good at, yet adults need to be reminded of: a sense of wonder in the world." Check out the anthem spot below, along with a shorter version and a print piece after the jump. 

Is JCPenney stocking up on slacks with extra room in the crotch? I'm inclined to think so, judging from its ballsy move of releasing a feel-good commercial from Young & Rubicam thanking consumers for "coming back" to the troubled retailer just two weeks after an ad apologizing for missteps under ousted CEO Ron Johnson. Many web commenters have posed the obvious question: "Isn't it too soon to say thank you?" Sure is. Just do the math, Einstein! Penney is set to release first-quarter earnings this week that reflect a 16 percent sales slump following a $4.3 billion loss in sales last year. In fairness, the chain has begun making changes under new CEO Myron Ullman, reviving coupons, sales and its St. John's Bay collection. And its recent mea culpa and #JCPlistens social outreach campaign have been well received. Still, two weeks of anything—and Penney offers no particulars—won't right this ship. Heck, even two good quarters probably wouldn't be enough. That doesn't mean I don't applaud JCP's moxie. For all its muted, mom-centric imagery, the new spot bespeaks a certain swaggering style—i.e., "We're back because we say we're back!" At least there's some substance here, with Penney returning to its roots and focusing on core values. That beats another troubled retailer's strategy of tossing Robin Thicke and phallic symbols into a video and hoping for the best.

This new billboard in Milan for an insect spray also serves as a huge pest strip, thanks to a few layers of aerosol glue. The glue was applied in the shape of an Orphea can's spray arc, which filled in as bugs got stuck in it. The visual effect of that little mosaic of suffering is quite unique, and now all of Milan's summer tourists will see and understand the potency of aerosol glue. And maybe Orphea, too. Agency: Publicis Italy. Via The Denver Egotist.

What does an ad agency do when it realizes Peregrine falcons have laid eggs on its roof? It whips up a cool logo, builds a Tumblr, chooses a hashtag, sets up a webcam, and turns the whole thing into a mini social-media event. It all began at Campbell Ewald a few weeks ago. Today, at approximately 5:54 a.m. CT, the first egg hatched. Check out all the #CEfalcons action over at cefalcons.tumblr.com. There's some cute videos on there, although it's not going completely smoothly for the first baby falcon (called an "eyasses," actually). In one video, "Mamma Falcon tries her best to force the new baby back into its egg, less than three hours after it was born." BBDO had better guard its National Geographic account closely in the wake of this.