Pepsi Takes Heat for “Sexist” iPhone App

Pepsi’s new iPhone app for Amp Energy drink, called “AMP UP Before You Score,” is under fire for objectifying women. The app categorizes the fairer sex into 24 categories, and offers help for getting lucky. For instance, clicking on the “Treehugger” girl in the app gives you recommendations for local vegan restaurants, advice on how to be a hippie and a fake carbon footprint to recite. Clicking on “Cougar” gives you instructions on how to tie a cherry with your tongue, plausible boy jobs and local wine bars to frequent. There are pick-up lines for all the female types and a personal “brag list” for logging the names and dates of your hook-ups.

If you subscribe to the adage that the only bad publicity is an obituary, then Pepsi has done quite well for itself. On Twitter, the hash tag #pepsifail is generating lots of buzz, prompting a half-hearted apology from the Amp Energy official Twitter feed. “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,” says Amp Energy crew. The blog Jezebel has also taken the app to task, calling it “completely unacceptable and ridiculously offensive.” You can still download the app for free from the iPhone’s App Store. [via Telegraph]