Justin Bieber

Until Steve Jobs died, Best Buy was plotting a familiar course for its Super Bowl ad: hiring a celebrity spokesman. Then with all the tributes after the Apple founder's death, Best Buy's U.S. marketing chief, Drew Panayiotou, realized Silicon Valley inventors are today's stars.

A backlash erupted in the blogosphere over J.C. Penney's top for girls emblazoned with the slogan: "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me." The description alongside the item read: "Who has time for homework when there's a new Justin Bieber album out? She'll love this tee that's just as cute and sassy as she is."