So Justin Timberlake released his new album The 20/20 Experience this week, and everyone’s going all out to promote it. His label allowed fans to stream the whole thing on iTunes two weeks ago, he hosted Saturday Night Live, and before all that he did this ridiculous “I’m ready” tweet thing.

Anyway, it’s Friday so we thought we’d share our favorite little JT promo stunt via our sister site AgencySpy. It’s so simple that it’s dumb — in a brilliant way. It’s called JT All Night Long, and it’s really just a quick loop from that (old) song set to different clips of Timberlake throughout his career, from the “SexyBack” video to the ramen-hair period. Just click on it before reading ahead.

Don’t you feel like you just got “Rickrolled” by Timberlake and creative agency CP+B Miami? We do — and we don’t mind at all. Say what you will about his music, but the dude has a sense of humor.

Say what you will about Playboy, notorious purveyor of softcore smut and reality TV (which are pretty much the same thing)–Hugh Hefner‘s creation remains an iconic American brand synonymous with “the good life” and a healthy serving of old-school misogyny. Unfortunately, the company isn’t making much money these days–and now it’s hoping to find second life by lending its name and logo to the highest bidder(s).

The Internet’s endless collection of erotica all but ensured the failure of Playboy magazine’s once-solid business model. While the website’s search description still promises “…hot girls, nude girls, naked women in sexy pics and videos”, Hefner and his new CEO Scott Flanders hope to help the brand live on by spending less time on half-dressed ladies and more time slapping the Playboy label on consumer products.

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Never underestimate the porn industry’s uncanny ability to worm its way into every single thing ever.

Twitter made media headlines at the end of last week with the debut of its new Vine video-sharing application, a feature that threatens to make the world’s top messaging service even more addictive by allowing users to post six-second GIF-style videos. What a great development, we thought; who uses words anymore?

You know who else jumped at the ability to immediately share short video clips with thousands of users? Porn promoters! Accounts started posting explicit excerpts along with hashtags like #porn, #sex and #boobs only a few moments after the app went live in the iTunes store.

As New York Times reporter Nick Bilton put it:

Friend: “So are people using Vine for porn yet?”Me: “Nah, I don’t think so.”Friend: “Check the hashtag #porn.”Both: “Holy ****!”

— Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) January 27, 2013

The porn problem quickly became a PR problem:

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We understand that networks, cable companies, etc., are struggling to keep up with the rapidly evolving world of online video. Viewers are increasingly demanding that their favorite shows be available to watch whenever and wherever they want, redefining make-or-break factors like ratings and advertising.

So we don’t really mind watching ads while streaming videos on sites like Hulu, as long as it means we don’t have to miss trivia night at the local bar in order to catch the next episode of The Following.

But when we purchase an episode via Amazon or iTunes, our expectations, it seems, are entirely different.

After watching a recently purchased episode of Archer (an FX show) via our boyfriend’s Amazon account, we noticed that fellow fans had given it a surprisingly low rating. Curious, we read through the comments section only to find that every single negative comment concerned the ads for other FX shows that preceded the video.

Here are a few of the angrier comments:

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This is something of a surprise: a new study from WSL/Strategic Retail tells us that Kim Kardashian and American Idol are not the social media “brands” with the biggest influence on the public–at least when we’re talking about Facebook. Those would be Walmart, Coca-Cola and iTunes.

Wait, who actually likes iTunes?

The big stat: nearly twice as many Facebook members (61%) “like” retail brands as celebrities or TV shows. We don’t quite see the point of liking a chain store, but millions of Americans clearly do (though only 26% turn to social networks for information about things they want to buy).

Some other, less surprising findings from the study:

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We told you earlier this week why music videos are no longer MTV‘s cup of tea (reality shows are king, iTunes and Pandora rule the music world, you’re old, etc.), but now it seems the network that once supplied a generation with its soundtrack is struggling against falling ratings. So far this season, ratings are down roughly 30%, causing some concern for parent company Viacom. To make matters worse, MTV is about to lose its grossly (emphasis on the gross) popular series Jersey Shore.

While Viacom’s earnings were up 13%, revenue was down 17% for the July-September period–and domestic ad revenue declined 6%. During a conference call with analysts to discuss the issue, Wells Fargo media analyst Marci Ryvicker said, “There is a fear out there that MTV is broken.” Philippe Dauman, Viacom’s chief executive, immediately came to the network’s defense: “It is not broken…MTV is very healthy. Indeed, we have a great development pipeline and we have just added one of the major talents in our business in addressing young audience in Susanne Daniels.”

Daniels, who was hired this week as the network’s programming chief, earned her stripes at the WB network over a decade ago by championing shows like Dawson’s Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It seems MTV hopes she’s still got an eye for what appeals to America’s youth–and that she can breathe new life into the slumping network’s programming lineup. “She will bring with her some additional talent who will bring to bear more development in the reality and scripted area. We have a good pipeline and this will turbo-charge it”, Dauman said of his new hire.

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Charlie Melcher has been upending traditions and expectations in the publishing industry for more than 25 years. He first broke onto the scene in a big way with Madonna’s notorious “SEX” book, and his company Melcher Media published a string of successful titles ranging from Eminem’s autobiography to Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” before Melcher was forced “out of [his] comfort zone” in 2009 by a market that continues to push the industry in a digital direction.

Melcher Media’s first significant digital project was creating an app tie-in to Gore’s most recent book, “Our Choice”. After the app ruled the iTunes store for a few weeks and received both a David Pogue write up in The New York Times and a design award from Apple, Melcher became more fully invested in the idea of “reinventing the book for the digital age” and turning traditional narratives into multi-media experiences.

Melcher has some big ideas about the future that extend well beyond the world of traditional publishing and into the basic practice of storytelling, or the human desire to share and re-share personal narratives that touch us, move us, and even infuriate us. This Friday, October 5th in New York’s Snug Harbor, Melcher Media will host a one-day summit titled “The Future of Storytelling” to begin the complex task of turning those ideas into reality—and you’re invited.

This won’t be your conventional media gathering;

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We recently posted a story discussing whether fake “user” reviews posted to social media and retail sites on behalf of clients could be considered acceptable PR tools. The overwhelming response we received from PR professionals strongly hinted at a critical consensus: While the practice is somewhat common, it is never OK.

Gerard F. Corbett, Chairman and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America, even weighed in to state unequivocally that posting reviews under fake names is unethical and should not be tolerated by any respectable PR organization.

Unfortunately, researchers behind a newly released Gartner study believe that the practice will only continue to grow despite our ethical quandaries. It’s a bit of a chicken-egg scenario: As consumers conduct more of their research and shopping online, positive social media reviews will become more and more important to brands—and in the rush to establish and expand a product’s online reputation, quite a few individuals will end up breaking the rules. (Researchers place the percentage of fake reviews at 10-15% by 2014.)

According to Gartner, someone will pay for cheating—and soon.

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Frank Ocean’s new album, Channel Orange, officially drops today, but if you were thinking of picking it up while running some errands at Target, think again. Since the critically acclaimed album was released in digital form on iTunes last week, Target will not stock the physical version, saying in a statement that they focus on offering their guests “a wide assortment of physical CDs, so our selection of new releases is dedicated to physical CDs rather than titles that are released digitally in advance of the street date.”

Sounds fair enough, but the timing of Target’s decision, along with its history of being linked to anti-gay groups, has some questioning whether the retailer’s refusal to sell Ocean’s album has more to do with the artist’s recently-revealed bisexuality than with the iTunes exclusive. Read more

In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “Elevator Pitch,” host Alan Meckler meets with Storyville co-founder Paul Vidich. Storyville is a mobile app for short stories that connects readers and authors.  A former music executive, Vidich helped Steve Jobs bring music singles to iTunes. He hopes Storyville will do for the short story what iTunes did for the single.

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Also, find out who’s hiring on the Mediabistro job board.