In March, American soft drink beverage company, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, promised that if Guns N’ Roses released Chinese Democracy prior to the start of 2009, the company would give every person in America a free can of Dr. Pepper.
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In March, American soft drink beverage company, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, promised that if Guns N’ Roses released Chinese Democracy prior to the start of 2009, the company would give every person in America a free can of Dr. Pepper. As late as this past October, when Axl Rose announced that the album would be released in November, Dr. Pepper’s VP of marketing announced that the company would hold to its promise saying, “We never thought this day would come, but now that it’s here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper’s on us.” When Chinese Democracy was finally released on November 23, Dr. Pepper did hold to its promise by giving away coupons for a free 20-ounce soda to anyone that visited their website on the release date. In the aftermath of the giveaway, however, Guns N’ Roses is threatening legal action claiming the website crashed, creating “a complete fiasco.”
Axl Rose’s attorney, Alan S. Gutman, sent a letter to Dr. Pepper CEO Larry Young stating, “the redemption scheme your company clumsily implemented for this offer was an unmitigated disaster which defrauded consumers and, in the eyes of vocal fans, ‘ruined’ the day of Chinese Democracy‘s release.” Frustrated that “Dr Pepper did not define ‘everyone in America’ the same way as ‘everyone in America’ defines ‘everyone in America,’ the band is seeking a public apology via newspaper ads, additional time for people to claim their free soda, plus monetary damages.
Dr. Pepper Snapple Group has yet to comment on the letter.
