Making Lemonade out of an Offensive iPhone App

An iPhone App for an energy drink with the name, "Amp Up Before You Score," offering tips for guys on how to pick up various stereotypes of women is getting some press. Not a shocker.

What is surprising is that it's not all bad press. 

Yes, there are some very unhappy people, a lot of them women. And not just with the energy drink brand, but with the mother ship, Pepsico. And there are plenty of people who just think it's no big deal.

What I find worth talking about is how the company is handling the situation. While they've not said if they're going to pull the app, they issued an apology via Twitter and introduced a #pepsifail tag.

From Advertising Age:

"Still, introducing a tag that associates your brand with a fail is a bold move and one that ensures the brand is a part of the conversation. PepsiCo has quickly addressed the issue, before it got too far out of hand. And it has ensured the conversation is easy to monitor, which will certainly make it easier to plot its next moves."

Right or wrong. Offensive or not. Nice recovery. Definitely smart (and, of course, very OPEN of them, focusing on this new, complicated network) to jump in and be as close to the center of the conversation as possible.