While scrolling through my Twitter feed this morning, the first thing to jump out at this Boston Red Sox fan (Did I just alienate half our readers? Hello? Are you still there?) was a promoted tweet from T-Mobile that read:

Feeling lucky? Baseball fans could win #OpeningDay tix via @tmobile & @mlb. RT & enter here to get in the game: bit.ly/XqYqER

— T-Mobile USA (@TMobile) January 14, 2013

Intrigued, I followed the link to a sweepstakes-entrance Facebook page run by T-Mobile, which announces in the wireless provider’s familiar pink, white, and black: “T-Mobile takes the field as the official wireless partner of Major League Baseball.” At first, still in my early morning/longing-for-baseball-season stupor, I just scrolled down to check out the entrance form. A few sips of tea later, the PR-oriented part of my brain kicked in and said, “Wait, what?”

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Today we came across a list of “America’s 10 Most Hated Companies” courtesy of Ragan’s PR Daily and 24/7 Wall Street, which compiled the worst of the worst based on “stock performance, employee and customer satisfaction, and management decisions.”

We were intrigued, so we figured we’d peruse the list and see what we could make of it. What are these brands, and what did they do to offend the American public (and their investors) so badly?

Here they are, along with our past and present theories on why they suck:

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Unlike SoHo in New York City and SoMa in San Francisco, NoMo and FoMo aren’t popular urban neighborhoods. They’re being used to describe phobias related to widespread reliance on mobile and social media. NoMoPhobia is the fear of being without mobile devices and FoMo is fear of missing out.

A recent New York Times article focused on ‘internet use disorder,’ defined as those who are unable to disengage from online activity. While this hasn’t officially been classified yet as a mental condition, it’s being studied further.

In the meantime, media and tech companies have conducted their own studies and are using the results to coin unofficial terms for the public’s electronic addictions.

NoMoPhobia/Fear of being out of mobile contact. Being separated from one’s mobile device is a well chronicled domestic and international concern, as evidenced by different surveys conducted in the U.S. and the U.K.

In a recent T-Mobile survey, U.S. respondents were given the choice of going without mobile phones or other critical belongings. For many, mobile phones won out. Specifically, rather than being without their cell phones, 29 percent would rather be without cash and 25 percent would rather be without their credit cards. (These numbers will likely increase as more mobile apps enable financial transactions.) Interestingly, eleven percent would rather leave home without their pants than their mobile phones.

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Since her debut in 2010, we’ve gotten to know T-Mobile’s spokeswoman Carly Foulkes as the effervescent, pink-wearing promoter of T-Mobile goodness. For the latest ads, T-Mobile has turned her into a biker chick, doing away with the floaty dresses and putting her in a leather outfit and helmet.

T-Mobile’s SVP of brand, advertising, and comms tells Mashable that the ad is meant to convey the company’s status as a “challenger brand.”

“The makeover from the girl-next-door to an edgier, more tech-savvy and spirited Carly is synonymous with the evolution of the T-Mobile brand,” he says.

Jezebel, who isn’t a fan of the Foulkes to begin with, isn’t buying it.

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Google+ today announced a few product updates, including one that affects how photos appear in its lightbox function. We’ve got a video above, care of Wired. The article says the improvements are meant to keep up with Facebook’s new Timeline feature, which is now slowly rolling out, and Twitter’s redesign. Twitter introduced brand pages and other features a couple of weeks ago.  Our colleagues at AllTwitter break down the bells and whistles.

Cision is now available on smartphones and tablets. Cision search capabilities are now accessible on iPhones, iPads, iTouch, and Android devices, and has been certified for use on Google Chrome.

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PRNewser took a break over the long weekend with all of you and while we were in a food coma, a few interesting things were happening out in the world. So let’s do a quick recap shall we?

-Beyoncé is looking for a firm to revamp BeyonceOnline.com, Ad Age reported. The article says she’s unhappy that the current site doesn’t show the depth and breadth of all that is Beyoncé, and she’s getting involved with the search, seeking a new site in two days. Thoughts on this assignment?

-Walmart is still trying to get away from the 2008 Black Friday tragedy that led to the trampling death of a store worker by talking up its crowd control measures. Nevertheless, store openings Thursday evening/Friday morning got crazy with one woman taking a lesson from the pepper spray cop and zapping people to get at her discount goodies. More people across the country were shot, robbed, and arrested.

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Susan Davis International has added a new client to its roster: the Everglades Foundation. The firm will provide event support for the organization’s 2012 Everglades Water Supply Summit taking place January 17 and 18 in Tallahassee, FL. The firm has also re-signed Fannie Mae’s Help the Homeless Walk, taking place November 19 in Washington D.C. and the Joint Women’s Leadership Symposium, also taking place in D.C. on March 5 and 6.

Green Garage has hired Metzger Associates for PR and social media services. Green Garage is an eco-friendly auto repair and maintenance shop.

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Nicole Sabatini has been named the SVP of marketing for the Style Network. Sabatini served as the VP of ad sales and marketing for Bravo Media since 2007. In her new role, she will oversee consumer marketing, brand partnerships, new media, and other marketing areas.

Hernan Daguerre, the director of external comms at T-Mobile, has died in a car crash at the age of 38, PRWeek reports. Daguerre had been with the company for a year, working previously with companies including Nike and MTV.

Lena Hoareau has been put in charge of the new Seychelles Tourism Board London office. The PR office will also serve as a news bureau for media in Europe and in untapped markets. Hoareau is also responsible for the European PR office and has served in the lead position previously for the news bureau. [via Breaking Travel News]

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T-Mobile is capitalizing on the hoopla surrounding this week’s royal nuptials with a viral video that takes off on another wedding march that caught fire on YouTube. The spot was filmed in London with lots of great lookalikes (check out Camilla!). The message of the video is lost on no one. The Guardian says it’s “The latest bit of shameless Wills’n'Kate band wagon jumping.” The clip was released on Friday and has nearly five million views.

[via CNN.com]

Brunswick is working with AT&T on the T-Mobile USA deal, but Abernathy MacGregor tops the mergermarket ranking for deal value.

Abernathy MacGregor Group leads the pack for value of international deals in Q1 2011 according to the latest mergermarket League Tables. The firm worked on 16 deals worth $73.3 billion, putting it ahead of Brunswick Group, which came in at number two with 41 deals valued at $67.9 billion, and Sard Verbinnen, which handled 21 deals valued at about $64.4 billion. According to mergermarket, this is the first time since the rankings began in 2001 that Abernathy has topped the list.

And, The New York Times Dealbook blog notes that Brunswick is advising on the biggest deal of the quarter, AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile USA. (Brunswick is working with AT&T while Kekst & Co is working with T-Mobile.)

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