Applications
Pepsi releases football game for Xbox Live
MUMBAI: Global beverage brand Pepsi has partnered with Microsoft Xbox to create a Pepsi Max branded football game based on its recent ‘crowd surfing‘ football ad and is the first of its kind for the gaming and entertainment service.
The game is based on the TV ad which features footballers like Didier Drogba and Lionel Messi , thus forming a part of Pepsi Max‘s Max It! campaign.
The brand hopes that this new Xbox LIVE mini-game will enable Pepsi Max to leverage its high-impact TV advertising collateral in the interactive gaming environment.
The game on Xbox Live comprises three levels where users select an avatar and take on Pepsi Max’s footballers in a series of challenges, which recreates scenes from the TV ad. The players receive digital prizes, such as Pepsi-branded avatar T-shirts and themes to personalise their home screens, when they complete each level.
For promoting the games, the brands will make use of video banners on the Xbox Live dashboard so that those who click through will be taken to a Pepsi branded destination, where they can see the TV ad and play the game.
In addition to this, the beverage brand has created an application on Facebook that enables users to star alongside the Pepsi footballers.
Earlier this month, Pepsi unveiled its first global marketing campaign, with strategy to align itself closely with the entertainment industry, under the strapline ‘live for now’.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
