Dr Pepper's recent publicity stunt in which the soda manufacturer offered to give every American (with a few exceptions) a free soft drink if Guns N' Roses managed to release its long-awaited Chinese Democracy album by the end of 2008 was an unmitigated success in terms of attracting attention for the brand. Apparently, Guns N' Roses had nothing to do with it, and now the band's lawyer Alan Gutman has taken the soda manufacturer to task for a "shoddy" promotion he says fooled fans and ripped off the band's image.
Gutman send a letter to Dr Pepper Snapple Group president and CEO Larry Young describing the giveaway as an "unmitigated disaster which defrauded consumers" and claims Dr Pepper "brazenly violated [their] clients' rights," according to Billboard. Gutman demanded that Dr Pepper extend the giveaway and print a full-page apology in several of the nation's prominent newspapers. And, of course, he wants damages for Axl Rose and company in return for "the unauthorized use and abuse of their publicity and intellectual property right."
After Dr Pepper's servers crashed on Sunday after the GNR album wenton sale and the giveaway commenced, the company extended theregistration – originally scheduled to end Sunday at midnight – until6pm on Monday night. During that time, Americans could enter somepersonal information in exchange for a coupon for a 20-ounce soda,
which Dr Pepper said would arrive in 4-6 weeks. Gutman claims that notonly did Dr Pepper use GNR's intellectual property without permission,
but also that the botched nature of the giveaway reflected poorly on theband.
Anyone who goes to the site now looking for their free soda due to Chinese Democracy
being released is greeted by the normal front page of DrPepper.com,
which contains no visible mention of the high-profile giveaway. If youdidn't register for your soda in the first two days the album was onsale, you're out of luck, unless Gutman succeeds in forcing DR Pepperto extend the deadline again.
We've asked Dr Pepper whether ithas a response to GNR's accusations via both instant message ande-mail, but it has yet to respond.
Update (4:21 pm EST): A Dr Pepper spokesman says he will have a response for us soon.
See Also:
- Dr Pepper Bets Against Chinese Democracy
- Dr Pepper to Make Good on Chinese Democracy Stunt
- Dr Pepper Pays Up, For One Day Only
- Dr Pepper Extends Deadline After Servers Crash
- Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy Launches on MySpace
Photo: nexus6zora
