Sometimes, even the big boys get it wrong. PepsiCo yesterday put out a public apology following a backlash to its ‘AMP Up Before You Score’ iPhone application (watch the demo video here), which was created to provide what can only be described as advice on how to ‘pick up’ women.

The free to download app – which ‘promotes’ the energy drink formerly known as Mountain Dew AMP – allows users to select which type of woman they’re trying to chat up, then look at specific tips and tricks before allowing them to ‘brag’ (their words, not ours) about a potential success to Facebook and Twitter.

The company has since released a formal complaint via Twitter in a move that sets PepsiCo apart from Motrin (which uploaded its advert to YouTube and then remained silent as mothers across the world complained about its content).

We spoke to Alex Pearmain, Head of Digital at Fishburn Hedges (which represents the likes of Nestlé, Sainsbury’s and Tetra Pak) for some insight into how this will affect the brand’s wider business. “Pepsi’s Twitter acknowledgement – that they were looking to tap into the humour of young men’s conversations and lifestyle, which might not be appreciated by all audiences – demonstrates an inherent challenge in effective digital communications. Now, more than ever, digital channels facilitate targeting of content to specific demographics, and allow a brand to direct and segment their comms more effectively than ever. Or that’s the theory.

Cow mentioned that an idea the agency had pitched over a year ago to someone ‘had seen the light of day’ in The Sun.

Many agency heads responded with support, agreeing that getting the balance right in putting together an impressive pitch, while also protecting your ideas is an industry-wide problem.

Singer then asked for a potential solution to the issue, saying that he’d complete a side by side comparison before acting. Stephen Waddington, Managing Director of Speed Communication, suggested that Cow’s Managing Director should be open and blog about the situation, stating that people would appreciate his leadership.

It’s always important to look at the wider impact of any specific piece of marketing on reputation, and in this case the wider pushback on the corporate brand may outweigh the merits of the specific communications to the original young, male audience.”

AMP is no stranger to male-centric marketing (much like the Lynx of the American soft drinks world), and it’s worth noting that the majority of people responding negatively to this app are not the ones that it was intended for. Comments across the board however have varied from complaints of sexism to applause for being so gutsy, but the majority focus on this simply being in bad taste and pushing it a little too far.

It’s one thing for Lynx to say that its deodorant makes you more successful with the opposite sex, or that Yorkie bars are ‘not for girls’- this seems to have pushed it a little too far. Even though the relatively small percentage of the target audience may not mind the app, the vast majority of feedback has been negative – and they make up sales for the vast amount of other brands under the PepsiCo banner.

This mishap is the latest in a series of mistakes from companies trying to utilise social media, which is probably best highlighted on Bête de Jour (who is well known for a somewhat dismissive attitude to working with brands) after the blogger was approached by 888ladies.com with a pay per post advertising deal. Needless to say, the brand pairing didn’t quite match up and once again we see that – like any other type of comms – research is vital before reaching out or launching a new product.

Pearmain wrapped the situation up nicely by pointing out that the ‘self-deprecating tone’ of the Twitter apology (including the mention of the #pepsifail hashtag) was a nice touch, and helps demonstrate the brand is in touch with its customer base. However, now the real issue is continuing this and using the onslaught of feedback to help shape a successful evolution of the campaign.