Twitter hacking is the big thing this week! After hackers turned Burger King into McDonald’s yesterday (and did their best to promote rappers T-Shyne and Chief Keef), the same team hijacked Jeep this morning and turned it into another joke-fest with tweets like this one, which we can only present to you in RT form:

RT @jeep: You’ll never catch @50cent ridin in a Dirty Ass @jeep !!!! #ForDaLuLz #FreeJeep

— PRNewser (@PRNewser) February 19, 2013

This afternoon, reports and tweets named MTV and BET as the latest victims of the hacker wave. One problem, though: they were faking it.

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NBCUniversal executive Lenore Moritz was promoted to the position of vice president, communications, digital and integrated media, in NBCUniversal’s Entertainment & Digital Networks and Integrated Media (E&DN/IM) division. Most recently, Moritz was VP of Communications for Integrated Media and iVillage, which recently moved to the digital portfolio in NBCUniversal’s News division. In her new position, Moritz will oversee corporate messaging and media outreach, as well as work closely with and advise the leaders of the businesses she supports. (Release)

Josh Rucci, a former Getty Images executive, joined Bloomberg LP as global head of content sales, a new role at the company. Rucci had been with Getty Images for the past five years, most recently serving as senior director of media and broadcast for the company’s London office. (FishbowlNY)

Wade Davis was appointed CFO of Viacom Inc. Mr. Davis previously served as Viacom’s executive VP, strategy and corporate development. Effective immediately, Mr. Davis will be responsible for the company’s accounting and financial reporting, planning, tax and treasury functions. He will also continue to oversee the strategy and corporate development functions across Viacom. (Release)

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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And now we bring you a very, very welcome respite from politics. Yes, it felt great to type that.

In the eyes of the average brand, product placement is a good thing–especially when the product in question plays a role in a hit feature film. But representatives for worldwide King of Suds Anheuser-Busch aren’t too happy with the fact that a bottle clearly bearing the Budweiser logo appears in the new Denzel Washington thriller Flight.

Why would any brand demand to have its logo removed from a critically acclaimed movie starring one of the industry’s biggest names? It’s fairly simple, really: his character has a drinking problem.

That’s right, Denzel stars as a commercial airline pilot who works an evening shift as a hopeless alcoholic–and that fact turns into a big problem after he survives a “horrific crash” for which we can only assume he bears responsibility (no spoilers please–we’re waiting for the DVD).

Turns out that DVD may well be missing a certain dark-brown bottle with an iconic red logo. This week, Anheuser-Busch asked Paramount and its parent company, Viacom, to remove all traces of the offending Bud from subsequent cuts of Flight. The company’s vice president issued a statement: “We would never condone the misuse of our products, and have a long history of promoting responsible drinking…It is disappointing that Image Movers, the production company, and Paramount chose to use one of our brands in this manner.”

Really?

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As we mentioned in this morning’s Ticker, the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday night was filled with jokes. Here’s a clip from Jimmy Kimmel and coverage of President Obama’s bit. Separately and unsurprisingly, Keith Olbermann had something to say about a joke aimed in his direction. Olbermann took to Twitter.

MinOnline has a list of the top six monthlies for May, with Marie Claire on top.

Ryan Seacrest continues along his path to world domination with a deal that will put him on the Today show as well as NBC primetime news and the network’s entertainment specials. He’ll be cutting back on E!. TVNewser has the press release.

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Heineken USA has named Stacey Tank as SVP of corporate relations starting January 3. Tank was previously the head of corporate relations for G.E.’s $6 billion “Healthymagination” program and led the company’s 2011 launch of a $1 billion international cancer campaign.

Entertainment publicist Scotty Dugan died suddenly on Wednesday as he was en route to the funeral of music exec, film producer, and event promotions exec John Atterberry. Atterberry was gunned down in Hollywood on December 9. Witnesses say Dugan collapsed while waiting for a train. Dugan started as a reporter, working his way up to editor at The Hollywood Reporter before launching his own PR firm. He was handling PR for Atterberry’s indie Christian film God’s Country. [via THR]

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