Dr. Pepper's Chinese Democracy press release

[faldor]

Ali, I agree with pretty much everything you say.

I DO think this an inside job.. All parties know what is going on.  We are not fucking idiots.  If you choose to beleive that people do these promotions without telling the people they are promoting they are going to promote them you are delusional.

I think you are a fucking idiot if you keep saying GN'R was part of it.


If you do a promotion saying "we'll give you a free soda if the Rangers win the Stanley Cup" doesn't mean you're just promoting the New York Rangers.



/jarmo

No, but they would have to get permission from the NHL do to that. 

I bet DP came up with the whole idea, I get that, but somebody had to run it by the GNR camp or record label.  If not, they are lucky bastards and idiots at the same time.

Last year a furniture store chain in Massachusetts (Jordan's Furniture) offered a full refund on sofas, dining tables, beds, or mattresses bought between March 7 and April 16 if the Red Sox won the world series.  Well the Sox won, and Jordan's gave away A LOT of free furniture.  Not sure how relatable that story is to this situation, but these kinds of things do happen.  They're doing it again THIS year, BUT only if the Sox sweep the World Series.  That's the only way they could get an insurance company to back them.

Here's a snippet from the article

Jon Hickey, senior vice president of sports and entertainment marketing at Mullen, a Wenham advertising agency, said the Jordan's promotion was a brilliant use of a team sponsorship. He said Jordan's would have won financially if the Sox had failed to win the World Series, but now it will win a huge public relations bonanza with the victory. He estimated the retailer could have paid several million dollars for the insurance coverage - a small price for the publicity.

And the whole article

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/10/30/jordans_knows_cost_of_victory_full_well/

[AxlsMainMan]

Wouldn't Dr. Pepper be able to write off a good portion of the free sodas as a "business expense"?

If they could do that, Dr. Pepper's possible financial loss would be pretty much non-existent.

[GNRreunioneventually]

i sent an thank you to the one guy that was mentioned on the bottom of the myspace bulliten for the dp G'n'R thing and this is what i got back. I thought it was pretty cool of him:

Ethan> Subject: RE: DO NOT DELETE!!! PLZ READ!!!!!> Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:09:29 -0400> From: Chris.Kooluris@ketchum.com> To: ethanbradford09@hotmail.com> >

Ethan

You're awesome man. I would never delete a message from a true guns fan or any gnr fan for that matter. We did this because we love gnr. Personally I can't even imagine growing up without guns in my life and as I get older and the world beckons me to sellout and hang up my youthful adoration for guns it only strengthens my determination to keep the brand alive. I too believe this is the year ethan and if the awesome demos are any indication of the final record, gnr will take over again...stay in touch bro

Chris

Sent from my GoodLink synchronized handheld (www.good.com)

> > -----Original Message-----> From: Ethan Bradford [mailto:ethanbradford09@hotmail.com]> Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 08:29 PM Eastern Standard Time> To: Kooluris, Chris> Subject: DO NOT DELETE!!! PLZ READ!!!!!

 dear sir

as a G'n'r Fan that has stayed loyal all these years i feel obligated to thank you and your company for doing this. Personally i don't like Dr. Pepper (actually i think it tastes like shit (unless mixed with Captin)) But thanks to you and your company i really think that this will be the year for CHINESE DEMOCRACY.

Thank you again, the G'n'R online community is in debt to Dr pepper thank you again and Gods speed

 sincerely

CHINESE DEMOCRACY eventually (HTGTH)

(aka) Ethan

 \m/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He also said that i could post his Email address if anyone else wanted to send Dr. Pepper a thank you or to say some kind words

Chris.Kooluris@ketchum.com

[Wicked Demon]

and if the awesome demos are any indication of the final record, gnr will take over again...stay in touch bro

Wow.... Dr. "Downloading Motherfucking" Pepper

[Mr. Redman]

Coke backed GnR in the australian leg of the 93 tour.

[lynn1961]

At first, I thought this was just a joke, but obviously it's ligit.    Evidently, from Axl's response, it doesn't seem to be a mutual promotional gimmick (which I thought it might be, at first, too).    I think it's kind of an awesome concept on Dr Pepper's part. 

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I can't believe that there are people crying "foul" over this.

If McDonald's were to give away free Big Macs if the war ended anytime during the Bush administration, there would be nothing the federal government could do.

It's kind of like a couple of guys hanging around a bar.  One of them says to the other, "If you get that hot babes phone number, I'll buy you a beer."  If the guy gets rejected, he can't sue for a beer.

[Scabbie]

I'm more of a Ginger Beer fan, a cherry coke once in a while, but its great to see that GNR fans are not alone in there support of the band.

If I can show my support by buying a couple of cans of Dr. Pepper, then so be it...just tell me where I can input the serial numbers on the can. Maybe there could be some kind of fan movement behind Dr. Peppers offer.

And as for Buckethead, I'm really pleased that we will get to hear some of his work on the album 

[Scabbie]

Jarmo, Fernando - do you know who at Dr. Pepper is the big GN'R fan who kicked this off? Its a great story and I'd love to know more about how the challenge originated at Pepsi.

[lynn1961]

While I think is a great concept....I'm not going to run out and buy Dr Pepper, over this! 

[Nytunz]

Haha! Finaly somthing interesting happening!

Dr Pepper! LoL!

I have a feeling that this will cost them some big money!

[pilferk]

Christ, the way some of you guys are discussing the logistics and economics of Dr Pepper giving everyone a free drink, you'd think the album actually had a release date.

Right.

So lets all come to a GnR message board to discuss politics.......

Oh, wait....I forgot...we DO do that.

If you don't find the conversation to your liking.....maybe skip the topic.

It was the first bit (though I find the management story, actually, much MORE interesting...it broke LATER yesterday) of actual "news" we've had in quite some time.  And you gotta admit: It's pretty cool.

[TomFriend]

Christ, the way some of you guys are discussing the logistics and economics of Dr Pepper giving everyone a free drink, you'd think the album actually had a release date.

Right.

So lets all come to a GnR message board to discuss politics.......

Oh, wait....I forgot...we DO do that.

If you don't find the conversation to your liking.....maybe skip the topic.

It was the first bit (though I find the management story, actually, much MORE interesting...it broke LATER yesterday) of actual "news" we've had in quite some time.  And you gotta admit: It's pretty cool.

Yes, but its the GNR element and the fact that someone finally got Axl to break his silence thats cool (to me at least) not the plausability of whether or not I'll get a free 80 cent can of soda, y'know what I'm saying?

[pilferk]

Yes, but its the GNR element and the fact that someone finally got Axl to break his silence thats cool (to me at least) not the plausability of whether or not I'll get a free 80 cent can of soda, y'know what I'm saying?

Again, then skip that piece of the conversation.

Because there are enough aspects of this that you're going to have LOTS of different views, opinions, and pieces that are going to get discussed.  Just like there are LOTS of other different topics on the boards, both in the GnR section and outside of it, that GnR fans find interesting and want to discuss.  That's sorta the point of having a message board.

I'm just not sure why you expect everyone else in the thread to tailor the conversations to what YOU might find to be the "interesting parts"?

I'd also offer up that discussing the "plausibility of getting a free can of soda" is pretty relevant....because many people were doubting that the promotion was REAL based on their perception that it would be too costly to run....and, as happens often on message boards, the tangent went from there.

Y'Know what I'm saying?

[elmir]

i just think its great to have gnr in the public domain again, and thanks to this soft drinks giant, they are now being mentioned everywhere....that is such great news for us, the fans, who hold the GNR flag, and have to defend the band every time some doofus decides to share his opinion on how the band is no more and whatnot....

its fucking brilliant, and i am happy for it...

here's hoping more good things start to happen in the coming weeks....

[TomFriend]

Yes, but its the GNR element and the fact that someone finally got Axl to break his silence thats cool (to me at least) not the plausability of whether or not I'll get a free 80 cent can of soda, y'know what I'm saying?

Again, then skip that piece of the conversation.

Because there are enough aspects of this that you're going to have LOTS of different views, opinions, and pieces that are going to get discussed.  Just like there are LOTS of other different topics on the boards, both in the GnR section and outside of it, that GnR fans find interesting and want to discuss.  That's sorta the point of having a message board.

I'm just not sure why you expect everyone else in the thread to tailor the conversations to what YOU might find to be the "interesting parts"?

I'd also offer up that discussing the "plausibility of getting a free can of soda" is pretty relevant....because many people were doubting that the promotion was REAL based on their perception that it would be too costly to run....and, as happens often on message boards, the tangent went from there.

Y'Know what I'm saying?

I made one comment to the effect that people were getting a little ahead of themselves, since there's no confirmation that the album will be out this year. Damn, relax! You'd think I'd made some huge slur on the whole GNR community. How about you skip my piece of this and future conversations?

[faldor]

i just think its great to have gnr in the public domain again, and thanks to this soft drinks giant, they are now being mentioned everywhere....that is such great news for us, the fans, who hold the GNR flag, and have to defend the band every time some doofus decides to share his opinion on how the band is no more and whatnot....

its fucking brilliant, and i am happy for it...

here's hoping more good things start to happen in the coming weeks....

Absolutely.  In this day and age with crappy bands like Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, and such ruling the airwaves, I was beginning to think there wasn't a place in the world of rock and roll for GNR anymore.  At least in the sense that they weren't really relevant.  This puts them back in the public eye, at least for the time being.  And even if it doesn't happen (though I pray it does) I think it's been proven that they still are, or at least can be, extremely relevant.

[pilferk]

I made one comment to the effect that people were getting a little ahead of themselves, since there's no confirmation that the album will be out this year. Damn, relax! You'd think I'd made some huge slur on the whole GNR community. How about you skip my piece of this and future conversations?

No....you questioned why people were talking about the logistics and economics of the promotion....in light of the fact we have no album date.

I was one of the principal participants in those discussions.  So obviously you were addressing me, at least partially.

And my suggestion stands: If you don't like part of the conversation....skip it. Don't bitch about it.  I'm not saying it to be snide, or mean spirited.  I'm giving you a hint for how best to avoid things you find irrelevant or boring.  Because there's LOTS of that stuff littered on the boards.

Oh, and I'm very relaxed.  

[pilferk]

Absolutely.  In this day and age with crappy bands like Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, and such ruling the airwaves, I was beginning to think there wasn't a place in the world of rock and roll for GNR anymore.  At least in the sense that they weren't really relevant.  This puts them back in the public eye, at least for the time being.  And even if it doesn't happen (though I pray it does) I think it's been proven that they still are, or at least can be, extremely relevant.

I agree.  The name recognition bump, alone, is sorta nice....and you can't knock any kind of "free" positive publicity like this.

What effect it will ultimatley have on album or ticket sales for GnR is questionable...mostly because we just don't know what's in the cards between now and December 31st.  But it's a good start, all the same.

[GypsySoul]

Gypsy's theory on how things went down:

Dr. Pepper was planning on releasing this "free soda challenge" as an April Fool's joke to get some publicity for themselves because they are aware of how fanatical GNR fans are.  Unfortunately for them, at least one of us GNR fanatics works for them and (by their own admission) leaked the "challenge" early (before April 1st).

Someone in the GNR camp seized the opportunity for free publicity for GNR and made the decision to hold Dr. Pepper's feet to the fire and call their bluff with the threat of a lawsuit for using the GNR name without permission.

FREE PUBLICITY FOR GNR!!!  *FREE SODA FOR AMERICA!!! 


*I think the way the "free soda" deal is gonna work is that you'll need to present a receipt at a designated store chain (like a 7-eleven) to prove you purchased Chinese Democracy to actually get your free soda.  I kinda doubt that most peoples are gonna bother to do that so the financial cost to Dr. Pepper on this deal will be minimal.