Horrified reading this! Makes me sad that people would do something like this, and not see how inappropriate it is - Dr Pepper is clearly aimed at young people/ teenagers so the app will attract tweens and teens, so in my view, ethically, it doesn't really matter whether there were age limitations attached to the app or facebook - the agency would have designed this app for a young target, & know the demographics they were likely to reach.
I work in a related industry and suggest you pursue the matter strongly, the offer of theatre tickets is disgraceful and will be a brand team hoping against hope that the issue will go away. Rest assured that as soon as the marketeer heard the problem, they will know this is a media disaster just waiting to break, and will be scrambling for their job.
Don't be dismissed and don't go away, this is a huge error of judgement on the brands part, as well as the agencies. The brand is culpable for anything done in their name, and they know it, so don't listen to them telling you otherwise! Its actually this that makes me see red, as trying to shift responsibility away from themselves makes them look doubly culpable in my opinion.
I can't actually understand how this could have happened, as even if one idiot in the agency thought this was a suitable phrase, there would have been many many other people all agreeing and overseeing the level of humour - surely someone would have noticed this? Its the kind of thing people have long dull meetings about, debating fir hours exactly how to describe the type of humour... is edgy the right word, how risky is risky etc...
And I find it incredible that no one from coke read the copy... however, thats a bit of an aside, as it really doesn't matter whether anyone from coke read through all the copy or not, they had the responsibility for approving it and letting it go out in their name. They will have signed a contract that allows the agency to put this campaign out, so therefore are liable although may want to sack their agency/ seek legal action because of it.
my final bit of rant: how could anyone in their right minds think a reference to two women and one cup was in the slightest bit suitable? I had the misfortune to see it last year, and felt nausious and sickened, especially as it was shown to me by a teenager [son of a friend of a friend, explaining a dodgy joke he'd made, I was holding back tears that he thought it was appropriate to show me, & worse, in front of his dad, who saw no problem with it... oh god,poor kid]. Anyway, I know that the clip of other peoples faces watching it has done the rounds, and it has been referenced in cartoons - Stewie Griffin watches it & we see his reaction... so has become something of an cultural reference point HOWEVER, there is no reason for forgetting why it has such shock value, and that it is totally inappropriate for children and teenagers to be exposed to, even the idea of it. If I as a very liberal 30 something was shaken by it, what on earth would a innocent young teenager feel, its just horrible.
The people creating these apps are professionals with lots of experience in social media, and should be used to drawing the line between what some teens may say to each other in the play ground, and what a brand can say online. They should be ashamed of themselves, for all the reasons other people have said in this thread, but also because they are quite simply bad at their jobs too.
Good luck and will keep reading this thread.