The free app, entitled “Amp Up Before You Score,” purports to help men pick up any one of 24 types of women, such as the “sorority girl,” “cougar,” “rebound girl” or “punk rock girl.” Users can choose the type of woman they have their eye on, then get coached on facts that might be useful, such as computing a carbon footprint to impress “the treehugger.”

The reaction in the blogosphere was unanimously negative.  In response Pepsi posted an apology on Twitter using the #pepsifail username.  Mashable immediately noted that “associating “fail” with your brand from an official account also seems fairly brazen.”

Will Pepsi pull the app?  Stay tuned…

• None Found

Playboy Enterprises likes to put its name and trademark bunny-head logo on products. Get ready for a supplement on which you can nibble the ears. At its second-quarter earnings call on Aug. 4, the president of the licensing division told investors, “Before year-end, we expect to add yet another new product category, nutriceuticals [sic]. We recently signed a deal for a nutriceutical [sic] product which we expect to see in the market before year-end.”

Alex L. Vaickus told analysts on the conference call that Playboy had recently labeled an energy drink via a licensing agreement. That product was being rolled out in the United States and introduced to other countries.  That followed the launch of Codi, a branded fragrance for which a body spray is coming.

What vitamins does Hugh Hefner want to promote? None of the analysts on the phone with Playboy execs asked that question. The analysts were more concerned with a possible takeover, the company’s long-term viability, and video on demand.  No one asked about the energy drinks, either. CirTran Beverage Corp. makes the beverages in regular and sugar-free flavors in 8- and 16-ounce sizes. According to the Playboy drink site, the “proprietary formula contains ginseng root, guarana extract and damiana leaf, ingredients that are believed to stimulate energy levels.”

Details on the Playboy nutraceutical are harder to come by. The licensing division reported that second quarter income fell 22 percent from the same quarter a year before, due largely due to the global recession. The earnings news release did not specify a new product, but said that the company was developing new product categories. Vaickus came to Playboy from ConAgra Refrigerated Foods and before that was with Sara Lee.

• None Found

Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal said the claim might be “voodoo nutrition” in pursuing an investigation of the drink, which contains caffeine. As a result of the agreement, Coca Cola and Nestle are re-labeling Enviga to add disclosures and disclaim weight-loss benefits, Blumenthal told news media. Any marketing of Enviga or a similar beverage that uses the terms “the calorie burner,” “negative calories” or “drink negative” must clearly disclose that the product doesn’t lead to weight loss without diet and exercise, he said.

Coca-Cola made the claim of weight loss based on studies that it claimed showed that caffeine combined with the green-tea antioxidant, EGCG, can increase calorie consumption.  Two years ago, the Center for Science in the Public Interest sued Coke and Nestle over the Enviga claims which it asserted were based upon “a 72-hour Nestlé-funded study of 31 people who were given a drink containing amounts of EGCG and caffeine equivalent to three cans of Enviga.”  CSPI claimed this study was insufficient substantiation for the calorie burning claims.  To read the complaint, click here.

Coca-Cola introduced Enviga in the United States in November 2006.  Since then the drink has come under scrutiny for its claims.

• None Found