Pepsi Fails to Score With iPhone App

LOS ANGELES — "Sex sells," or so most marketers claim, but Pepsi is discovering the hard way just how costly those sales can be, after its release of a controversial iPhone app.

Critics are calling AMP UP Before You Score "sexist," "insensitive" and "demeaning to women," for its portrayal of women, categorized by type, including "Cougar," "Out-of-Your-League Girl," "Trouble," and "Women's Studies Major."

Promoted as a "road map to success for your favorite kinds of women — 24 in all," the AMP app provides "surefire opening lines" for picking up women and reportedly encourages its users to boast about their results on popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter by offering a "Keep a List" function. "Get lucky? Add her to your brag list," the app states. "You can include a name, date, and whatever details you remember."

Trying to diffuse some of the controversy surrounding what one critic calls "a great new case study for branded apps gone wrong," Pepsi apologized on its Amp Energy Twitter account.

"Our app tried 2 show the humorous lengths guys go 2 pick up women," AMP's tweet reads. "We apologize if it's in bad taste & appreciate your feedback."

At the time of this posting, AMP UP Before You Score is still available from the App Store.

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