Pepsi wins worst advertisement award over font choice in AAPE promotion

A co-promotion between Pepsi’s Hong Kong division and Japanese clothing maker A Bathing Ape started out with promise. But the font choice is what derailed the whole project.

Windsor Star

September 24, 2013

In the campaign, a limited edition camo-can, t-shirts, electronics and umbrellas were all emblazoned with the new Pepsi + AAPE branding.

But then they decided to run the slogan in Pepsi’s iconic sloping text. Disaster ensued.

The campaign isn’t a new idea. In fact, it’s a 2012 promotion which was extended into 2013 because of its wild success. Apparently nobody noticed that the A in the Pespi typeface looks remarkably similar to a R, making the whole slogan appear to read Pepsi x Rape.

Once the photo went (predictably) crazy on Reddit, the rest of the Internet was quick to chime in.

We have to wonder how many people saw the mockups of this ad campaign and thought nobody would notice. Well, to their credit, it took a long time for people to put up a fuss about it. The campaign was first launched in Aug. 2012.