Does anyone not dislike Amp's iPhone app?
Pepsi's Amp energy drink is taking a beating for its new iPhone app, called Amp Up Before You Score. The app is supposed to help you score with 24 different types of women, which has some people upset over sexism and others over stereotyping. What types of women are listed, you ask? Twins and the Sorority Girl, of course, but there's also Married, Trouble and separate entries for Indie Rock Girl and Punk Rock Girl. What really ticked Jezebel off, however, is the app's suggestion that you brag about your conquests via Facebook or Twitter. In fact, the app wants you to keep a Brag List. Amp and Pepsi have already apologized via tweet. (In a bold move, they even included the #pepsifail hashtag.) A lot of blog space has already been wasted explaining why women won't like this app. What I want to know is whether it will do anything for the brand. Think of how many brands out there purport to help you score. What about this app sets the Amp brand apart from beer ads, or even Italian jeans ads? —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
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Published on October 13, 2009 | Permalink
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Massimo d'Amore and a shaken-up PepsiCo
BusinessWeek has a look at the sturm and drang inside PepsiCo's marketing ranks since Massimo d'Amore took over as CEO of the company's Americas Beverages unit 16 months ago. The former engineer, who for a CEO has an unusually high amount of hands-on control of marketing, even helped Peter Arnell create and edit the SoBe Michael Jackson "Thriller" spot with Naomi Campbell and the dancing lizards. The article relates how d'Amore increasingly shut out his own marketing execs in favor of Arnell, with one Pepsi exec calling the experience "d'Amoralizing." There are some good inside details, like those describing a top Pepsi strategy meeting between PepsiCo CEO Indra K. Noovi, d'Amore and Arnell—again, no Pepsi marketing execs were present—where Noovi said she wanted Pepsi's can to become a design icon akin to an iPod. Arnell would come out of the meeting gushing about how the brand needed to "reparticipate in popular culture." This is a good read about d'Amore's self-described "big bang" with PepsiCo's most valued brand assets and the outsiders lighting that fuse. —Posted by Noreen O'Leary |
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Published on April 17, 2009 | Permalink
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What the Dewce is up with Dew's new spot?
When everyone in a room simultaneously shouts "What the f@*k was that?" after a commercial, you know you have to blog about it. In this case, it was the new Mountain Dew Voltage bug-zapper ad. I say "new" to distinguish it from a 2003 Dew spot that also had a bug-zapper theme. In the new ad, doing the Dew makes you light up like a bug zapper until a gigantic insect approaches, gets zapped and barfs green slime on you. But that's not the interesting part. The interesting part is that right after that, they run a disclaimer that says: "Drinking Mountain Dew Voltage will not actually electrify you. This was simply a metaphor, an admittedly weak metaphor, to suggest it is intense. We hope you enjoyed it but fully understand if you did not." After we all screeched, one of my friends said, "Did they just apologize for their commercial?" The ad points you to DEWmocracyvoltage.com. Get it? DEWmocracy? (Dew parent PepsiCo is all about the electoral process now, what with its shiny new Obama logo and Obama 'mercial.) In the great tradition of oddvertising, this Dew spot both caught our attention and confounded us. I present it to you, dear reader, for your commentary. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
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Published on February 4, 2009 | Permalink
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