With Sprint looking to merge with Softbank and Clearwire, it might not be too long until we see the US carriers’ rankings really shaken up. Add that to the looming “T-Metro” deal, and Verizon and AT&T, the current leaders by number of subscribers, truly have something to be afraid of.

Before any of those two transactions will happen though, everyone’s trying to attract new customers in the old-fashioned way, with new phone releases, attractive plans and original ad campaigns. Sprint seems to excel at that former chapter, launching a couple of hilarious commercials in the past few months.

The two ads emphasize the operator’s “truly unlimited data” plans that allow you to do no sharing with your family members. Both commercials really took the thinking outside of the box approach, with the latest one encouraging people to refuse hiring “data coaches”.

To prove exactly how uncomfortable living with a data coach would be, Sprint showed the members of a typical family being bullied around by a scary middle-aged man in a gym suit. Original? Definitely. Funny? Yeah, I think so, though I did laugh more at the previous commercial, with this one being a bit too subtle and restrained for my taste.

How about you? Do you prefer this latest ad or the one from before, with the family meeting? Will you look towards Sprint’s unlimited plans with more interest now or have the commercials had zero influence despite being original and amusing?