Addiction. (Photo: flickr.com/mrsdkrebs)

Miserable stock price and managerial exodus be damned, Zynga's still got its celebrity fans. The AP reports that many of them--Edward Norton, Jonah Hill, Snoop Dogg, and Eva Longoria included--have signed up for a star-studded Words with Friends Tournament. They will be competing for a $500,000 donation to the charity of their choice.

Says the AP:

"We had the idea to do a celebrity tournament some time ago when it became apparent that the game was a hit among celebrities," said Travis Boatman, senior vice president of mobile at Zynga Inc. "It seems like everyone from Katie Couric to Snoop Lion is into the game."

Two things: 1) Snoop Lion? Are we really cooperating with that? 2) Poor Alec Baldwin, whose dedication got him thrown off a plane, must be feeling really under-appreciated right now.

Oh, and just in case you had any doubts about the promotional bent of this little shindig, Mr. Boatman continued:

"It's really inspirational for the team to see how 'Words With Friends has become part of the cultural mainstream, and I think it has struck a chord because it's not just a game, it's a way for people to connect and keep in touch with each other."

Indeed, last year GQ witnessed Zynga's powers of connection mid-interview:

GQ; Have you guys ever played each other?
Fabolous: Nah, but we got to now. Yo, Big, what's your handle?
Big Boi: [Hilarious, redacted name]. What's yours?
Fabolous: [Hilarious, redacted name].
Big Boi: Let's do it then.

Lest you assume all this indicates that your fave celebs are unexpectedly talented at the English language, it's worth taking a look at this irate Marketwatch screed, which complains of all the two-letter words accepted and concludes, "If you are not consistently winning at Words With Friends, it is not because you are dumb. It is because you are not dumb enough."

Sorry, Edward Norton!

It's not just the E-Trade baby who's mastered these apps (Photo: blogcdn.com)

Gather round kids, and set down your game of Tiny Wings for just a minute, because we have some mind-blowing news to tell you. A survey commissioned by Popcap Games and released today reveals that people are addicted to mobile gaming. Yes, that’s right, the Angry Birds Flu has officially infected a majority of the U.S. and U.K. populations.

The survey, conducted by Information Solutions Group, asked participants where and on what device they prefer to play mobile games. Nearly 70 percent of the 2,031 respondents chose to do so while sitting on the couch, and another 40 percent enjoy these complex, intellectually stimulating apps while watching television. Apparently, Mad Men isn’t really doing it for people anymore.

No, you can’t go back to your game yet, because it gets better. One out of every 10 respondents sneaks in a little Fruit Ninja while worshipping, driving a car or watching a movie. We’re not sure who should find this more concerning: God, Steven Spielberg or the person you just T-boned.

Even more worrisome is the fact that 10 percent of those surveyed have missed an appointment, class, ride or flight because they were caught up in a mobile game. Of course, according to the survey, many of these religiously apathetic, Spielberg-haters are young men with enough expendable cash to spend over $50 annually on mobile games. We're looking at you, Harry and Peter Brant.

Let's not fault the eight percent of people who need a little gaming break at school, or the nine percent who use Angry Birds to stay awake during their kid’s Little League game. But to those four percent playing games in the gym, don’t you think you should take a little break to work off those potato chips you consumed while watching Girls and playing Words With Friends?

Giordano Contestabile, the senior director of mobile product and business strategy at PopCap Games, told USA Today that he found these results surprising, likely because he still engages in such outdated activities as reading and face-to-face socializing.

But don’t worry. He will soon be sucked in, as will the rest of the planet.

“We believe mobile gaming is invading the last bastion of video game consoles and personal computers: the home,” said Dennis Ryan, the vice president of Wordwide Publishing at PopCap in a statement.

Looks like Mark Zuckerberg has some competition for world domination.

What's the term IPO MANIA worth in Words With Friends scoring?

Yesterday, the world took note of a revolution brewed in the skies—or ten feet from an airport gate—when Glengarry Glen Ross actor Alec Baldwin stood up for an entire populace of belligerent, gadget-tethered humans and revolted against the oppressive goosestepping of flight attendants who want you to turn your iPad off when airplanes taxi out of runways. He did it by refusing to stop playing Zynga's 'Scrabble'-copycat, Words With Friends. Zynga, as you might have heard, is the next large tech company about to IPO, to the tune of potentially $1B. How great would it be if Zynga got some awesome press before their IPO to help them oversell their company to the tune of $1B? Really awesome. So imagine how awesome everyone at Zynga felt yesterday when this all went down (answer: super awesome). But could something like this actually affect the way an IPO plays out as a company takes it on the road? Betabeat asked as much yesterday when we noted, as we often do, with the power of subtext:

zynga pre-IPO pr stunts?

We're not the only ones to think this way. Via Bloomberg, whose headline reads 'Zynga Gets Pre-IPO Boost From Game-Engrossed ‘30 Rock’ Star Alec Baldwin' emphasis ours:

“This is phenomenal for Zynga,” said Pachter, who’s based in Los Angeles. “The problem for Zynga with investors has been that the average portfolio manager doesn’t relate to their games. This definitely helps change their perception.” Zynga took up Baldwin’s cause with Twitter posts featuring the phrase, “#LetAlecPlay.” “Words With Friends” is Zynga’s sixth most popular game, according to Appdata.com.

Baldwin was removed from a flight to New York from Los Angeles, the actor said on his Twitter account. American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AMR) filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors on Nov. 29.

“He loves WWF so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it, but he has already boarded another AA flight,” Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Baldwin, said in a statement. Adam Isserlis, a spokesman for San Francisco-based Zynga, declined to comment beyond the company’s posts on Twitter.

Realize: If anybody in an investing sector—let alone the general, non-corporate, consumer-level investing public—is stupid enough to put money into a de facto ponzi scheme like Groupon, surely, they will see Alec Baldwin's belligerent endorsement of Words With Friends as a sign of good things to come, and put their money where their untrained eyes are, likely forgetting that this is the same actor who Kim Bassinger divorced and whose voice was heard calling his 11 year-old daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig."

Alec Baldwin is not a normal representation of the Words With Friends/Zynga mania, which is crazy, but not that crazy. He is an outlier. Please remember this when investing in Zynga.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Yes, for those who can't tell, it says "LET ALEC PLAY." In so many words. Literally. The Glengarry Glen Ross actor, meanwhile, has apparently changed his Words With Friends username to "There'sAlwaysUnited." True. There is that. Also, god willing, this whole screengrab-as-press-release thing will begin to trend. That'd be nice.