Sir Richard Branson is showing he’s still got love for the company he founded, starring in a new TV ad campaign focused on Virgin Mobile’s “higher calling.”

The prepaid carrier, now a division of Sprint Nextel, is running ads featuring a video message from Branson (at www.virginmobileusa.com), stating his vision for trying to be a better kind of phone company – one that offers “great value and fun for the money,” as the carrier put it in a press release. Virgin Mobile offers an unlimited data and messaging plan for $35 a month.

“Today the smartphone is the center of your universe,” Branson said in a statement. “And yet, nobody ever says, ‘I love my cell phone company.’ A Higher Calling will change all that. I’m very proud to be in this Virgin Mobile campaign.”

In the commercial, Branson advises viewers to “keep an eye on Virgin Mobile,” as it sets out to provide what consumers want at a fair price without a long-term contract. Another commercial shows a “young Branson” in the 1960s as if he’s obsessed with giving people unlimited data, before modern cell phones even existed.

Coinciding with the launch of the ad campaign is the launch of Virgin Mobile Live, the brand’s cultural content platform at www.virginmobilelive.com. The site, available via Facebook, Web, Tumblr and Pinterest, features daily original content, including streamed music, videos, photos and infographics. “At its core, Virgin Mobile Live invokes a unique and humorous slant on the latest news and happenings in pop culture and technology,” the company says.

The national commercials are running on cable and network television through March; a Web and social campaign will run throughout the month as well.