As if Instagram weren’t easy enough already, last week we learned that the Socialmatic, aka the “Instagram Camera”, is really going to happen thanks to a deal between an Italian inventor and the folks responsible for the Polaroid name. We find the concept behind this product amusing, but it also represents the latest step in an interesting rebranding experiment.

The old-school camera company went bankrupt more than a decade ago, and the folks who bought the name quickly began making money by licensing it to other brands. PLR IP Holdings, LLC nows owns the rights to all things “Polaroid”. A licensee agreement with Fotobar LLC tied the brand even more closely to the smartphone craze with a planned series of “FotoBar” locations aping the Apple Genius Bar retail model.

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OK, a couple of questions between friends: Do you have a lot of money lying around, ready to be wasted on an exotic “experience”? Does the prospect of life on Mars seem a little too far-fetched for you? Do you have a healthy sense of fatalism and/or a creepy obsession with Leonardo DiCaprio?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then you’re in luck: today some random billionaire named Clive Palmer announced his plans to create an identical working replica of the world’s most famously doomed ship–the Titanic. And it will be ready to set sail by 2016!

Yes, it’s true: The boat, which will be made in China (of course), will weigh more than 55,000 tons, include space for 2,435 passengers and 900 (poorly paid) crew members, and stand as one of the more ridiculous PR stunts in recent memory. But Palmer insists that it will be a “real financial bonanza” that will be so successful that he’ll soon have to work on a third! We’ll see about that…

Say, did anybody notice that this guy is a year too late? Did he miss James Cameron’s imminently punchable face reminding us that 2012 was the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster? More importantly, does he not hate Celine Dion as much as we do?

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It’s not entirely clear why the public holds such disdain for mornings (particularly Monday mornings), but we do.

Perhaps we don’t like having to crawl out of bed, scrub our armpits and then commute alongside a million other bleary-eyed drones to offices lined with fluorescent lights and bad art.

Whatever the underlying reason, the fact remains: most of us aren’t morning people—and brands like Mountain Dew would love nothing more than to provide us with the 8 AM jolt we need to match our socks and/or remember the names of our kids. (Hint: Sock thickness counts. The boy is named after your grandfather and the girl…well, ask your wife.)

It’s also no secret that America is addicted to caffeine. We love it in the form of coffee, tea and especially energy drinks, which have become the get-up-and-go beverage of choice with the younger crowd. What does that mean? Well, while your middle-aged Downton Abbey-loving aunt may prefer a mild French roast with the slightest hint of cream, most of the folks that marketers care about are more interested in sugary shots of carbonated adrenaline like Kickstart, the new breakfast drink from Mountain Dew.

That’s right: Mountain Dew for breakfast.

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The rise of Pinterest was one 2012’s biggest ongoing PR/marketing stories. We recently discussed the social media upstart’s role in the re-branding of print lifestyle magazines and wondered why so many marketers remain skeptical. Last month, Pinterest finally launched business pages, leading to lots of blog posts with headlines like “Is Your Brand on Pinterest? Why Not?”

OK, so everybody needs to look into Pinterest as a marketing tool. One big challenge, though: despite the fact that the company’s founder is a man, its community remains overwhelmingly female—most recent estimates put the ratio at 2:1 or higher, and as of this February a whopping 97 percent of the site’s Facebook fans were women. For some brands this demographic bias works quite well; for others it renders Pinterest all but useless.

To ask the inevitable question: Why don’t we have a “Pinterest for men?”

Well, it’s not for lack of trying—as of today, we’re still getting email pitches from sites positioning themselves as the pinboard of choice for those of the masculine persuasion. Here are a few, along with their taglines:

• Gentlemint – A mint of manly things.
• Manteresting – Interesting. Man. Things.
• Dudepins – Man up. Sign up. Pin up.
• Tapiture – A place for guys to discover the best stuff online.

We see a pattern developing here…

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We have to admit that we haven’t really kept up with Google+ (who has?), but the service made another attempt to encroach upon Facebook’s turf last week by introducing Google+ Communities. Now we know what you’re wondering: How does this affect me (if at all)?

Well, this week saw the creation of several  Google+ groups for PR professionals –and today Muck Rack’s Jess Lawlor took a look at three of the earliest adopters:

• The Public Relations group, launched by Sarah Evans of Tracky and listed as “A place for PR pros to talk about workflow, tools, tips, etc…”, “will host monthly hangouts featuring PR subject matter experts.”
• The Online Public Relations group will, of course, concern all things digital with a heavy focus on social media.
• The UK-based PR and Public Relations group seems a bit more general, but its members have already begun submitting plenty of content.

As you can see, groups continue to spring up at a rapid pace: We’re intrigued by one dedicated to “PR, Marketing and Social Media Measurement”, one all about PR/Advertising Fails, and one that’s more geographically specific (PR Professionals of India).

What do we think of these new PR communities? How long before they turn into the big, spammy mess that LinkedIn groups have become?

Oh boy–here we go again. Just as ‘Jersey Shore’ winds down, MTV plans to fill its time slot with 12 episodes of ‘Buckwild’ beginning in January. If you haven’t heard, this latest version of so-called reality TV will take place in the small town of Sissonville, West Virginia–and it will follow the time-tested MTV formula by encouraging young people to act like idiots. You may be shocked to learn that many West Virginia residents aren’t particularly happy about this development…but how will the public react?

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Apple CEO Tim Cook made the media rounds this morning to hype a major announcement: For the first time in well over a decade, Apple will be manufacturing a certain number of its products within the United States.

As cynics, we see this move as a blatant attempt to counter all the bad PR that Apple received over the Foxconn outsourcing/slave labor/suicide scandal (though we would note that this awful story didn’t really prevent anyone, least of all ourselves, from buying Apple products).

The fact that late CEO Steve Jobs supposedly denied a request for more domestic production from none other than President Obama strengthens this theory. As much as we’ve accepted outsourcing as a part of the modern business landscape, everyone loves to hear about good new jobs for Americans. So this is great PR, right?

Maybe–but investors hated it, and we have a feeling certain Apple advisers did too.

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We’ve all heard more than enough about the prolonged American recession/unemployment crisis. We can’t blame the public for being confused about the fact that this very same struggling nation can set Black Friday sales records and create demand for—wait for it—a $7 cup of coffee at Starbucks. Huh?

Who, exactly, is spending all of this money on coffee–and where did they get it? Aren’t we all broke, unemployed and burdened by a lifetime of student loans? Champagne taste on a beer budget is one thing, but coffee doesn’t even have any alcohol in it. Has “a cup of joe” become the new glass of wine?

The Starbucks brand hasn’t just changed the way Americans perceive and consume coffee–it continues to guide our tastes and understanding of a substance that plays an increasingly prevalent role in our lives. Part of the coffee appreciation learning curve, apparently, entails pushing the boundaries of the ordinary. Sorry, Pike Place roast.

To capitalize on the public’s ceaseless search for something new, something better and something different, Starbucks now offers “high-end” Costa Rica Finca Palmilera coffee along with an extra-special variety called “Geisha”. Yes, that geisha.

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Fans of Cracker Jacks will soon find something other than temporary tattoos, cheap trinkets and miniature games hidden in their sweet and salty treat bags: a jolt of caffeine.

Not thrilled with the idea of your little tikes loading up on “jacked up” cracker jacks and bouncing off the walls? Fear not! PepsiCo (parent company of Cracker Jack makers Frito-Lay) assures us that it will only market the soon-to-be-released Cracker Jack’d Power Bites to adults. Not buying it? Neither is the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which charges that the planned snack violates federal food regulations.

In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, CSPI argued that “Caffeine is generally recognized as safe only in cola-type beverages and only at concentrations of 0.02% or less (about 72 mg per 12 oz.).”

When asked about these allegations, a Frito-Lay spokesman told Ad Age that Power Bites will include “two flavors that will contain coffee, a natural source of caffeine, as an ingredient…We stand by the safety of all products in the Cracker Jack’d line, including those that contain coffee. It is worth pointing out the regulation referenced in CSPI’s letter to FDA speaks to caffeine–not coffee–and is not an exhaustive list of the safe uses of caffeine in foods and beverages.”

The FDA wasn’t the only organization to receive a strongly-worded note from CSPI.

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While we focused on superstorms and elections over the past month, a certain famous American business made a big change right under our noses.

Billboard magazine, long seen as the ultimate tastemaker in American pop music for its top singles list, decided to join the 21^st century by revising its algorithm to include digital sales and online streaming services like Pandora and Spotify when determining which songs are most popular in a given week.

Sounds like progress, right?

Quite a few people in music don’t think so, because these changes give “stars with a pop-oriented sound and broad crossover appeal an advantage over other artists”. We have to agree: the fact that Psy’s “Gangnam Style” ruled the “rap” charts for more than a month while Taylor Swift continues to dominate the “Hot Country” category tells us that something in this new equation is a little off.

This excellent infographic demonstrates the fact that a mere six artists have all but dominated the Billboard charts over the past five years. According to most predictions, these new algorithms will result in more number one hits for Rihanna, Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Flo Rida while making the climb to the top of the charts even steeper for independent artists and those who work in “niche” genres like country, rock and roll and, you know, pretty much everything but “pop.”

Billboard’s editorial director Bill Werde defended the changes on his tumblr page, but the whole story is ominous news for the vast majority of those who work in or care about the music business. Some have created petitions urging Billboard to abandon its new model, but based on the puny number of signatures collected so far we can’t see that working.

What do we think? Will these changes make it harder for music reps to promote their clients? How will the industry adjust?

(As a bit of a bonus, here’s Werde talking to Mediabistro’s Donya Blaze about the challenges of music journalism): Read more