At the same time his long-awaited album Chinese Democracy is finally in stores (and getting some great reviews), Axl Rose is picking a fight with an unlikely foe: Dr. Pepper?!?
So how did it come to this, and when will they squash the beef?
Back in March of this year, Dr. Pepper said (with tongue firmly in cheek) that they empathized with Axl’s search for musical perfection, since their company had taken a long time to perfect its soda recipe. So the company offered everyone in the United States a free can of Dr. Pepper if the album came out in 2008. Fans had waited well over a decade already for the album, and it seemed like a safe publicity stunt.
Axl even thanked the company, saying their support “came totally out of the blue.”
Fast forward to November. All of a sudden, to the surprise of the entire universe, Chinese Democracy is actually, officially, physically released. For one day, Dr. Pepper offered a coupon for a free can of soda on its website…until the website crashed. Axl (and his lawyers) jumped on the limp promotion, dramatically calling it a “fiasco” and accusing the company of failing to make it realistically possible for everyone in America to get their can. Guns N’Roses demanded a longer window for consumers, a public apology to the band and monetary damages.
Dr. Pepper extended its offer but refused to apologize to the band.
Dictionary.com defines “fiasco” as a “complete failure.” That might be too harsh for a mess this silly. But certainly the triumphant release of Axl’s magnum opus has been tarnished and Dr. Pepper is left with a public relations embarrassment.
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