Controversy Remains King in Mobile Marketing

Although the App Store has shot down less provocative apps than this one, the marketing wizards behind Pepsi’s new iPhone app apparently convinced Apple to look the other way as they squeaked this app past Apple’s watchful eye. Simply put, the AMP Up Before You Score app, which is designed to promote Pepsi’s new AMP Energy drink, is billed as a “roadmap to success with your favorite kinds of women” that will “change your game and raise your expectations.” The app lets you “rank” and “categorize” women according to their personality type or appearance. The “smart app” also helps you compile info, determine a good pickup line, and cull assistance from a host of other attributes to help you “score.” After the fact, you can even log your experience in a “Brag List.” Using the hashtag #pepsifail, some folks on Twitter blasted the app as sexist and completely inappropriate but pinned the blame on Apple rather than Pepsi.


As international media outlets are beginning to cover the app’s launch, it’s obvious why more and more developers and mobile marketers are pushing the envelop with their campaigns and applications. Like it is elsewhere, controversy is king even in mobile marketing.