Axl Rose's lawyer has hit out at Dr Pepper, accusing the drinks firm of failing to deliver on its pledge to give everyone in America a free can of the drink on the release of 'Chinese Democracy', and demanding they extend the time for people to apply for their free can, and publicly apologise for the way the promotion has been run.
As previously reported, Dr Pepper issued a press release earlier this year promising the whole of America a free can of their drink if the long, long, long awaited new Guns N Roses album was released this year. When it became apparent that 'Chinese Democracy' would actually be finally released in 2008, Dr Pepper announced that any American wanting to claim a free can would have to register on their website on the day of the album's release.
This led to some criticism - firstly that Dr Pepper were using the publicity stunt to gather a massive database of email addresses, and secondly that the firm's website couldn't possibly cope with potentially millions of people logging on in one 24 hour period. The band issued a statement distancing themselves from the promotion, though nevertheless encouraged fans to take the drinks company up on their offer.
As previously reported, Dr Pepper's website did, as expected, go down due to the high volume of people logging on for their free drink. The drinks company extended the deadline for applying for a free can to the end of Monday, expanded its server capacity, and opened up a toll free phone line for those who couldn't make the website to work. But Guns N Roses lawyer Alan Gutman yesterday said that wasn't enough, adding that he was aware of many many GnR fans who had not been able to apply for their free can of drink because of the firm's faltering registration system. He called the promotion an "unmitigated disaster which defrauded customers".
In a letter to the company who make the drink, Gutman also claims the whole campaign "brazenly violated my clients' rights". As well as demanding Dr Pepper continue to accept free can applications, he says he will be seeking "appropriate payment" for the "unauthorised use and abuse of Guns N Roses publicity and intellectual property rights". He also wants the drink maker to take full page adverts in The New York Times, LA Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal to apologise for the crashing servers. He concludes that the whole venture was a "raw and damaging commercial exploitation of our clients' rights" adding that the association is "even more damaging in light of your shoddy execution of your disingenuous giveaway offer".
Dr Pepper are yet to comment on Gutman's letter. What started off as a light hearted publicity stunt may prove to be costly, and not just in terms of providing vouchers and free cans to half of America.