The Ultimate GH Protest

Since the lawsuit has been lost and the release of ?Greatest Hits? will still go ahead, it?s now up to the fans to try to fix this mess and keep the pressure up to get ?Chinese Democracy? released.

I have been reading a lot about people who are not going to buy ?Greatest Hits? as their form of protest against the release. But, that won?t help get ?Chinese Democracy? released anytime soon. I find it very doubtful that any new GNR material will ever be released on Geffen, considering the recent legal action. And, if the general public?s interest in ?Greatest Hits? is low, no other record company will release ?Chinese Democracy? considering that they might have to buy out Geffen?s $13 million investment depending on how the pending legal battle ends up. Therefore, the fans need to keep up the interest levels in GNR with the general public or I believe ?Chinese Democracy? will never be released. So here?s what I suggest:

Next Tuesday morning, as many people as you can muster should line up outside prominent CD stores in the major Cities(NY, LA, Boston etc) before opening and go inside and buy the ?Greatest Hits? CD. Then when you come back outside everyone should destroy their copies in front of hopefully the awaiting media.

What?s the purpose?
This will be a public relations exercise that should get some exposure in the media, illustrating current fan?s frustrations that potential fans are being offered a useless unauthorized product that will tarnish theGNR name.

How do you get the media there?
We tell them, that?s how. The media especially newspapers and radio are always after strange news pieces. I think this qualifies for that; ?Fans lining up to buy the latest CD from their favorite band, only to destroy that CD seconds after they have bought it.? There is potential for this to be printed in a lot of ?odd spot? sections in newspapers worldwide and I?m sure a lot of radio announcers would love to talk about this over the airwaves because it brings up a lot of interesting issues, eg. Record companies quests for profits, artist contracts, artist?s consideration for their fans, etc. and then hopefully they will play ?Welcome to the Jungle? or some other GN?R hit, and hopefully increasing the interest levels in GNR with the general public once again.

But, to get the media there, you have to have enough people doing this, so it doesn't turn into a joke on your behalf. 30+ people at each site should be enough. Get friends, family etc to help out so that everyone can join in the fun.

What message do you tell the media?
You tell them that this CD isn?t a true indicator of what GNR was or is about. You don?t want new potential fans to buy this CD because they won?t be able to full appreciate the full extent of GNR?s vast styles of music. That?s why you are buying it and destroying it. It should be explained that if people want to find out what GNR was about they should buy ?APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION? and not this CD. Your frustrations at waiting for ?Chinese Democracy? should be secondary when telling the media why we are doing this.

Why waste your hard earned on destroying a CD?
Satisfaction, that's why. The satisfaction of getting all the years of frustration out of your system of waiting for "Chinese Democracy"as you smash that CD with a hammer, with your boot or use it as a fisbee with fellow fans who feel the same way you do. Unfortunately, I won't be able to help out because I will be in Japan next Tuesday but I am willing to PayPal someone a few hundred dollars to smash some "Greatest Hits" cd's for me at one of the sites.... I suggest other people abroad or people in the US, who can't make it, do the same thing for the maximum number of cds destroyed.

Call me a dreamer, an idiot, or whatever. But, I've spent enough time working in public relations to know this will work. Please remember, there isn't much time, so you will have to get going quickly. I think this is a job for the Street Team's. If you need any help with contacting the media or making press releases, I can help out.

Sukeberon