Pepsi Amps Up the Sexism with Pickup App
PepsiCo Inc. ran into trouble trying to be all hip and stuff with an iPhone app aimed at young male consumers of Amp energy drink. It was bad enough that the app was built around the charming idea of bagging 24 different types of women — e.g., “the sorority girl” or the ever-imaginative “cougar” — and then posting the conquests online. Almost worse was the company’s Twittered apology after reception of its “Amp Up Before You Score” app fell flat, to put it mildly. –KA
PC World’s “Tech Inciter”:
What caveman came up with the idea to use an iPhone app to offer pickup lines and track female “conquests” that could then be posted to the user’s–in all senses of the word–social networking pages? Isn’t there a jail someplace for these people?
And what happened to Apple’s approval process for iPhone apps, that sometimes does and sometimes don’t seem to stop “bad taste” apps like this one?
PepsiCo, which owns the energy drink brand the application is promoting, has fallen over itself apologizing online, but is still offering the app for download.
“Our app tried 2 show the humorous lengths guys go 2 pick up women. We apologize if it’s in bad taste & appreciate your feedback. #pepsifail,” the company said on Twitter.