Contentinople - Erin Barker - News Bits: Pepsi Releases 'Sexist' iPhone App

Written by Erin Barker

Tuesday, October 13. 2009 at 11:25 AM EDT Post a comment

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Pepsi has apologized for the "AMP UP Before You Score" iPhone app it released to promote its AMP energy drink (to troglodytes, apparently).

The app sorts women into 24 "types" that range from "Women's Studies Major" to "Twins" and provides tips for picking up each type, directions to hotel rooms, and the opportunity to add each conquest to your "brag list."

"Get lucky? Add her to your Brag List. You can include the name, date and whatever details you remember," the app's description reads. The demo of the app, posted on YouTube, is below:

The app outraged many, such as women's interest blog Jezebel, and spurred Twitterers to protest, using hashtag #pepsifail.

AMP apologized through its Twitter account, oddly using the hashtag: "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."

But Pepsi still has not promised to remove the app.

In other news:

Video game publishers, on the other hand, are targeting more games than ever toward women and girls this holiday season, The Wall Street Journal reports. Over the past few years, women have become a more significant market for video games, particularly since the release of consoles like the Nintendo Wii, which are easier to play and attract a broader audience, no pun intended. Ubisoft, one of the first publishers to recognize the female market's potential, says producing games for girls "had a transformational impact" on the company.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) board member Arthur Levinson has resigned from Google's board, likely as a result of a recent Federal Trade Commission 's probe into ties between the two companies' boards, WSJ reports. Both Levinson and a Google spokesperson declined to comment on whether this was the reason for his departure, however. Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who himself resigned from Apple's board two months ago, said earlier this month that he saw no reason for Levinson to resign.

Tags: Advertising, Apple, Business, Google, iPhone, Legal

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