Curious About SuicideGirls

wedgiepicker Let’s start backwards. So before anyone get’s their panties in a bundle … CALM DOWN and LISTEN UP … we are not here to pass judgment on the app mentioned in this article. Our point is to once again question Apple’s application approval process and their efforts to protect their brand integrity/reputation. Unlike the items in iTunes (music, video, etc.) … the App Store is a different beast (good point OMB) … the App Store contains Apple sponsored and endorsed products, thus Apple has a vested interest in these applications. Yeah, yeah, yeah (cool band) … you may argue that iPhone apps are NOT Apple products, rather the developers … but you’re wrong. So if you want to buy us a beer (we prefer Anchor Steam Porter), we can debate the issue some evening … but for now, let’s move on …

Vans One of the many benefits of the iPhone platform is the ability for companies to leverage the iPhone to extend their brand awareness. Think about it … for a rather small investment, a business can establish their virtual footprint in the App Store and begin branding and promotional efforts within a completely new channel. Savvy companies realize this … Vans International has the Vans SK8 Pool Service game … Zippo has their virtual lighter app … Oakley has a surf report app … even Tic Tac mints has a shake the mints app.

Well yesterday, another savvy corporate player entered the App Store … SuicideGirls with their Flip Strip app that basically resembles the iStrip Sexy Pen app … a virtual novelty pen where you tilt your iPhone, the girl loses her clothing and is left in her bra and panties. Ok, fair enough … been there, done that. But what we found curious was the last paragraph of the app’s description …

SuicideGirlsDescription

Zoli1  Zoli2

To paraphrase … even though Apple is cool with 13-year olds checking out our strip app, we at SuicideGirls.com are not cool with anyone under 18 visiting our site. Hmmm, curious. What exactly is SuicideGirls … it’s probably best if their site’s title tag did the talking …

Beautiful Naked Girls With Tattoos And Piercings

SuicideGirlsSite

Yup, basically a “lifestyle” site catering to the goth, indie and alternative … call it Playboy For Punks. Now SuicideGirls has an artsy erotica feel to it, so label it as soft or pinup nudes. Plus it has this online community thing going on (message boards, model journals, etc.), huge merchandising, charity work, etc. Big business stuff … like we said, kind of like Playboy Enterprises. Curious? – check Wikipedia.

Bottom line, we are talking about nude photos and Apple is endorsing and aligning with the matter (save it – buy us a beer). Sure the app does not contain any direct links to the SuicideGirls web site … but the url is blasted within the app and the app’s description for all to see, remember and directly input into their browsers (which is exactly the point of the app sexyjobsJPG … brand/url exposure, leading to referral traffic … sound business strategy by SuicideGirls).

Again, we will repeat ourselves to remove those panties in a bundle … we are not judging SuicideGirls (that is up to the individual reader). We are just curious about Apple’s decision to align their brand with an erotica site … because if we were Steve Jobs, we would  steer Apple clear of any nude photo related entity (no offense SuicideGirls – just a business decision). But then again, we are not Steve and if SuicideGirls floats his boat, so be it … just curious.

(Sexy Steve image via Gizmodo)

May 8, 2009 | Filed Under Entertainment 

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