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Justin Timberlake’s ‘Not a Bad Thing’ launches real-life search

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Justin Timberlake is taking another unconventional approach to the art of the music video with “Not a Bad Thing,” this time using the airwaves and social media to solve a romantic mystery.

The “Mirrors” singer’s latest video debuted Thursday on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and shows two documentarians, a man and a woman, setting out to find a man who proposed to his fiancée on a Long Island Railroad train en route to New York City around 8:20 p.m. Jan. 12.

It turns out the man played a Timberlake song to his lady love -- the proposal is simulated at the beginning of the video -- and “Not a Bad Thing” plays as the filmmakers search for the elusive couple. JT’s voice is the only part of him present in the video, embedded below.

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“They were so in love. You almost never see that. We don’t know who these people are, or what their story is, but maybe you do,” the female filmmaker said. “We’re making a documentary about finding love. Have you seen this couple?”

The rest of the video follows their endeavor to find the man and woman and also enlists real-life couples to talk about love, their proposals and the struggles in their unions.

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Volunteers are seen taking to the streets to post bills asking, “Have you seen this couple?” The question became a hastag used by Timberlake to promote the pursuit and his video.

“Tune into @TheEllenShow TODAY for an exclusive Not A Bad Thing video (Check local listings.) #NABT #haveyouseenthiscouple -teamJT,” Timberlake tweeted Thursday.

In the meantime, a Twitter account called “Find This Couple” and its respective tumblr “HaveYouSeenThisCouple” have crowdsourced the effort.

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The video ends with the documentarians getting out of a van to chase down another lead. “Might be them,” the female filmmaker said, “Let’s try it out.”

Then “To be continued” is super-imposed on the screen. (Kind of reminiscent of his MasterCard TV spot, no?)

After the premiere, DeGeneres echoed the filmmakers’ plea.

“So obviously if you know this couple, contact us, because Justin is trying to find you, and we’ll put y’all together,” she said.

Timberlake, who tied the knot with actress Jessica Biel in 2012, seems to have a thing for proposals: During a concert back in December, the crooner assisted a Kentucky man in popping the question.

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