On Thursday Billboard reported that Dr. Pepper cares enough about Chinese Democracy to offer a free soda to every American should the long-awaited album come out this year. Chinese Democracy, the Guns N’ Roses album that Axl has reportedly toiled on tirelessly for over 14 years and has spent over $13 million recording according to the New York Times, is slated to debut in 2012 (according to their Wikipedia page).
In a release, Dr. Pepper director of marketing Jaxie Alt said, “It took a little patience to perfect Dr. Pepper’s special mix of 23 ingredients, which our fans have come to know and love. So we completely understand and empathize with Axl’s quest for perfection–for something more than the average album. We know once it’s released, people will refer to it as ‘Dr. Pepper for the ears’ because it will be such a refreshing blend of rich, bold sounds–an instant classic.”
One nod to Axl and fan’s frustrations is that two Americans–Slash and Buckethead–are excluded. No free sodas for you, axe men.
Parent label Interscope has not said whether they will comply with the soda giant’s offer, but over on gunsnroses.com, Axl said, “We are surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr. Pepper with our album Chinese Democracy, as for us, this came totally out of the blue. If there is any involvement with this promotion by our record company or others, we are unaware of such at this time. And as some of Buckethead’s performances are on our album, I’ll share my Dr. Pepper with him.”
Ignorance of the deal is no excuse, Axl. And, what about Slash?
The soda company has launched a blog to help promote their offer, which may never come true.
Axl insider Sebastian Bach has said in an interview with Rock My Monkey, “I think there’s a lot of business shit that goes on with him. It’s just not as easy. It’s a little more complicated than people think.”
Nothing a few million cans of free soda can’t clear up, Dr. Pepper is willing to gamble.
The album was also the subject of a successful April Fools Day prank last year on Spin.com; Chuck Klosterman’s review of the album caused fans and record collector types to repost the article en masse and then look silly to their less-rabid friends who were less than impressed with the fake news.