AMP Up Before You Score - The Mobile App Turkeys of 2009

Why is it a turkey?
Not since Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial did the soft drink giant face a public relations fiasco quite as ugly as the outcry that greeted the October release of AMP Up Before You Score, a free iPhone application touting its Amp Energy brand. Promising male consumers "a road map to success with your favorite kinds of women," AMP Up Before You Score broke down the opposite sex in 24 categories including "Women's Studies Major," "Cougar," "Trouble" and "Out-of-Your-League Girl." It also offered a pick-up "cheatsheet" including "surefire opening lines," and encouraged users to brag about their conquests via email, Facebook or Twitter. To the surprise of no one (except perhaps PepsiCo), consumers ripped AMP Up Before You Score in their App Store reviews: "Sexist and stupid" read one reprimand, and another user called it "a great new case study for branded apps gone wrong."

But the app wasn't half as bad as PepsiCo's hamfisted attempts to smooth over the situation. Instead of immediately removing the application from the App Store, the company delivered a half-hearted mea culpa via the Amp Energy Twitter feed: "Our app tried 2 show the humorous lengths guys go 2 pick up women," the tweet read. "We apologize if it's in bad taste & appreciate your feedback." Some pundits even suggested the controversy played out precisely as Pepsi planned: "I guess [the app's] value is proven by the fact that we're talking about it," John Sicher, editor and publisher of trade publication Beverage Digest, told The Wall Street Journal.

In the end, Pepsi caved and pulled AMP Up Before You Score from distribution. "We have decided to discontinue the AMP iPhone application," read a company statement. "We've listened to a variety of audiences and determined this was the most appropriate course of action." Translation: "Our stockholders got wind of this debacle and demanded we shut it down." As of press time, PepsiCo still has not apologized for that appalling "Forever Young" commercial juxtaposing Bob Dylan with will.i.am.