Justin Bieber stolen laptop and nude pic scandal a brilliant marketing ploy - Examiner.com

Turns out we were all had by Justin Bieber.

First, the 18-year-old heartthrob tweeted that his camera and laptop were stolen while performing a gig in Tacoma, Washington. He claimed there was "personal footage" on those items.

Hours later, a photo of a nude male torso with the same tattoo that Bieber has was "leaked" to the web.

Next, a Twitter user by the name of "@gexwy" began tweeting Bieber and claimed to have the camera and laptop. He or she even posted a couple of candid backstage videos on YouTube as "proof" that they did indeed have the stolen items. @gexwy promised to release something at noon on Friday that would rock the world.

Would it be more salacious nude photos? A steamy sex tape with Selena Gomez?

Turns out, it was none of the above.

At 9:05 a.m. PST this morning, @gexwy tweeted a link to Bieber's new video for "Beauty and a Beat," featuring Nicki Minaj.

There were clues that something was up. Bieber and his team never filed an official report with Tacoma law enforcement after his camera and laptop were reportedly stolen.

This morning, Bieber began tweeting links to articles about his nude photo scandal (including this one) with the hashtag "#noon," foreshadowing the release as something he was looking forward to seeing.

Minaj got in on the prank too, tweeting yesterday: "uh oh...the barbz have a BIG surprise cmng tmrw." Earlier this morning she tweeted: "I'd be by a computer in 20 mins if i were u…"

Bieber had this to say before the link to "Beauty and the Beat" was released for all to see: "since i was 14 i have had a lot of things said about me, from dying, to taking hormones, to dying again, to stuff about my family... to saying i had a baby with a woman i never even met. nude pics, drugs, my family, my character...but today...today i get to be in on it…"

A nude photo and possible sex tape scandal that had the Twitter world, worldwide media, and millions of people abuzz several hours before the release of your next video?

Well played, sir.

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