Coinciding with the World Cup, EA SPORTS launched a 75-second online video to promote its EA SPORTS 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil game. The patriotic video is set to the tune "I am a real American," a song that takes any wrestling fan down memory lane, reminiscing about Hulk Hogan wrestling for the WWE back when it was known as the WWF. Moving past the wrestling memories, the video features a team of soccer heroes made from various slices of Americana, including a cowboy, fireman, cheerleader, football player, astronaut, construction worker, fast-food waitress and a tech guy, serving as goalie and wearing a pair of Google Glasses. This motley crew is the clear underdog yet they pull off a win, thanks to the support from fans in the stadium. Gamers looking to be "the next American hero" can start by playing EA SPORTS 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. "The fate of the nation is in your hands," says the voiceover. No pressure. See the video here, created by Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam.

Verizon, in partnership with MAKERS, launched a campaign to draw attention to the gender gap for young women in science, technology, engineering and math fields (STEM). A 60-second video, "Inspire Her Mind," illustrates how behaviors from loved ones can drastically alter a girl's journey in life. The ad begins with a young girl with a big interest in science. She loves rocks, walking in streams, playing with starfish, creating her own solar system and using electric tools to build school projects. Sadly, each time the girl participates in something where she might get her hands dirty, she's encouraged to divert her attention to other things. The girl might get her dress dirty when walking in a stream and dad thinks her brother should be using the power drill to assemble a school assignment, not her. The video ends with the girl reading a poster about an upcoming science fair. Instead of making a note to enter the fair, the girl uses the plexiglass next to the poster as a mirror to apply her lip gloss. Sixty-six percent of 4th grade girls say they like science and math, yet only 18% of college engineering majors are female. "Our words can have a huge impact," said voiceover Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code. "Isn't it time we tell her she's pretty brilliant, too?" See the video here, created by AKQA.

The way to a woman's heart is through her stomach in the newest ad for Taco Bell. "Imagine" marks the debut of Taco Bell's Quesarito, a combination of a quesadilla and a burrito, and illustrates how two people can perceive the same situation in drastically different ways. The ad opens with a man and woman eating their lunch on a park bench. At first sight, the man is dreaming about the woman and ways to steal her heart. The woman, on the other hand, has eyes only for the man's Quesarito and plots to steal it. Oh, amor! See the ad here, created by Deutsch LA.

There's a cab in Oslo, Norway, outfitted with hidden CCTV cameras and hooked up to facial recognition software to record passengers as part of a digital campaign for online gaming company Casumo. And I bet you thought it was Big Brother watching. With the "Cab Cam," riders' expressions are secretly monitored to calculate how happy the person appears. Any time a rider is bored means money off their ride. Each receipt, complete with person's picture, gives passengers the balance of the fare as a cash-back code to redeem on Casumo.com. The printout also asks if the rider's photo and emotional journey can be published on a campaign website. The site will feature a heat map of the taxi's ride, color-coded to identify the most boring parts of the city. See how it works here, created by Perfect Fools.

I've heard of staycations and man caves, but mancation is new to my vocabulary. The Illinois Office of Tourism partnered with Chicago Legend Bill Kurtis to encourage men to explore the manly side of Illinois without visiting a baseball stadium. By the looks of "Man Wisdom with Bill Kurtis," Illinois has a lot to offer men, aside from a baseball game and 18 holes of golf. Men can race stock cars on a NASCAR track, take a brewery tour, bet on horses, or visit the casinos. This mancation sounds like fun. Sign me up! Kurtis continues by showing men their ticket to freedom: an erotic novel read by wives in a monthly book club gathering. "For every book club she gets with the ladies, you get a mancation with the guys." See it here, created by JWT Chicago.

I don't highlight radio ad campaigns often, but this piece, from the Red Cross, is worth noting. The Red Cross Sectional Antioquia needed to recruit young team volunteers between 20- and 30-years-old and turned to the radio for help. Since this (foreign) target audience is big on listening to the radio, the Red Cross urged potential volunteers to be part of the "right side" by using voiceovers that can be heard either on the right or left speaker/ear bud; those targeted to the right ear mention the positive feeling of helping others. Left-side voiceovers would not do well in an emergency situation, panicking and looking to quickly saves themselves from danger. Watch this video of the audiocast with headphones in to feel the full effect. In one instance, the wrong side says: "As soon as I hear an emergency alert, I start to scream." The right side has a different approach: "As soon as I hear an emergency alert, I start to scream for backup." Listen to the ad here, created by TBWA\Columbia.

Random iPad App of the week:Domino's Pizza launched an app that makes ordering pizza faster than normal. A pizza builder allows users to see what their pizza will look like, step by step.  Frequent customers can reorder their favorite pizza or create a new one in a matter of minutes. And if that's too much work, pizza lovers can use a voice-ordering assistant to place an order. The app also lets users track their pizza order and find deals that apply to individual local Dominos. The free app, available here, was created CP+B and Detroit Labs.