GN'R Threaten Dr. Pepper With Lawsuit

11/26/08 5:45pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Axl Rose doesn't want to be a Pepper.

Guns N' Roses are threatening to slap Dr. Pepper with a lawsuit over a promise the company made earlier this year to give every person in the U.S. a free can of their pop if the band released Chinese Democracy sometime this year.

Dr. Pepper made coupons for a free can of their pop available on their website when Chinese Democracy was released. Guns N' Roses weren't involved in the campaign. The publicity stunt was so successful that the amount of traffic on the Dr. Pepper website caused it to crash, and the company had to extend the offer by a day.

Rose's lawyer, Alan Gutman, sent a letter to Dr. Pepper president/CEO Larry Young on Tuesday. He wrote that the band want Dr. Pepper to apologize for the crash in newspaper ads, and also want fans to have more time to get their free pop.

Gutman's letter stated the band also want "appropriate payment... for the unauthorized use and abuse of [Guns N' Roses'] publicity and intellectual property rights." He threatens legal action if an agreement isn't reached.

"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," the letter reads.

It also claims the promotion violated Guns N' Roses' rights because it was based on "the exploitation of [Guns N' Roses'] legendary reputation."

"Our clients are outrated [sic] at your treatment of their fans and the American public in general," the letter continues. "After it became clear that Chinese Democracy would be released in 2008, Dr. Pepper executive Tony Jacobs proudly proclaimed that Dr. Pepper would make good on its promise to give a free soda to everyone in America.

"It turned out that Dr. Pepper did not define 'everyone in America' the same way as 'everyone in America' defined 'everyone in America.'"

The letter finishes by stating that the company should have contacted Guns N' Roses for a "commercial tie-in" with the album instead of "hijacking [Guns N' Roses'] rights without payment."

Did Rose not get his free soda or something?