Puhhhleeeease help Bill. He’s going to lose his job if he can’t get make 10,000 friends by August.

That’s right. 10,000 friends. Is this for real? For Vanity Fair editorial assistant Bill Bradley it is. And hey, Bill, if you make your deadline, my boss wants you to apply for a job here.

The go-getter with black-rimmed glasses works from his gray cubicle as the young mastermind behind a PR campaign to guilt people into joining Vanity Fair’s Facebook page.

But so far, it's not going so well. As of June 30, Bradley had 3,515 friends. To put it best in his words, “in short, I’m screwed.” His boss told him August 5 is the deadline. Attention Bill’s boss: This is a ridiculous assignment.

Bradley explained in a recent post on Vanity Fair’s Web site that he’s in a “shameless self-promotion for the sake of more Web site traffic and better job security.”

“I will befriend people that I clearly don’t know.”

“I will hand out fliers in Times Square.”

“And I will past my sorry, hopeless face, pale with desperation, on telephone poles around New York City.”

Case and point: Julia wrote at 10:59 p.m. on the VF Facebook wall: "oh I feel bad for the guy! hope they let the guy keep his job or extend the deadline...Go Bill!"

Steve wrote at 12:40 a.m. "just making sure the guy doesn't lose his job."

Bill is getting desperate. He recently pleaded with sweaty tourists and onlookers in New York’s Times Square for help. Covering his front and back with a sandwich ad board of the latest issue of Vanity Fair with Angelina Jolie, Bill tried to make new friends.

Bill went with the free walking ad campaign as compared to what would be $125,000 to run an ad for eight minutes an hour, 24 hours a day, on the jumbo screen in Times Square. (He did check into it but “was in no position to buy.”)

But the latest PR move doesn’t appear too successful. Watch the video here.

The all-important gossip site Gawker even picked it up.

So what if Bill loses his job? He’s young and obviously smart since he landed some writing on the Vanity Fair Web site. And he’ll have a good story to tell.

Do you think Bradley's PR stunt will work? August 5 isn't far off... he welcomes any ideas of “how I can be more lame and attract more fans.” After all, he says, “the job you save could be mine.”