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GNR Isn’t A Pepper, Too
A lawyer for Guns N’ Roses is pitting Chinese Democracy against corporate America, with a stinging letter to Dr. Pepper’s parent company accusing it of dropping the ball on its promise to give away free soda if the album was released this year.
With the Nov. 23 drop of the long, long, long-awaited album, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group promised a free Dr. Pepper to every American who jumped a few hoops to obtain a redemption coupon.
Photo: AP Photo
Axl Rose makes an unexpected return to the MTV spotlight as Guns N’ Roses closes out the annual MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Alan Gutman, a litigation attorney for the band, fired off a letter two days after the fateful album release, accusing the company of creating “an expansive and highly-publicized advertising campaign based solely on the exploitation of my clients’ legendary reputation and their eagerly awaited album, Chinese Democracy.”
Gutman chastised the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group for “its appalling failure to make good on the promise it made to the American public … to provide free soda to every person in America in the event our clients’ album was released in 2008.
“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. Now it is time to clean up the mess.”
Gutman noted how the redemption process threw up roadblocks to those wanting to “be a Pepper” by being unprepared for the onslaught of thirsty GNR fans, evidenced by server crashes Nov. 23 and the fact that coupons could be obtained only on that day.
Dr. Pepper did extend the promotion an extra day, but Gutman remains unmoved.
“It turned out that Dr. Pepper did not define ‘everyone in America’ the same way as ‘everyone in America’ defined ‘everyone in America.’ … Further, what happened on Nov. 23 was a complete fiasco.”
He added, “The entire point of your campaign has been to use public interest in Axl Rose and Guns N’ Roses as a lure to increase consumer awareness of Dr Pepper.”
Of course, that works both ways.
In his letter, Gutman demands that Dr Pepper take out full-page ads in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal apologizing to “the American public and Guns N’ Roses fans” for its “failure to make good on its promise to deliver free soda to every American.”
Gutman also demands that Dr. Pepper expand the offer and be prepared to pay up, noting negotiations for a tie-in had broken down.