How’s this for something really, really stupid?

Around late-March of this year, Sean Gleason, senior VP of the brand action team at Cadbury Schweppes decided that he really wanted to hear Chinese Democracy by Guns N Roses. Where as GnR fans had been waiting 17 years for the album, Gleason thought he could urge Axel Rose to finish the project as well as drum up some free PR for Dr. Pepper, the company’s most music-centric soft drink. Dr. Pepper has seen Flava Flav provide the voice of a can and they paid internet-sensation Tay Zonday to sing “Cherry Chocolate Rain” in promotion of Cherry Dr. Pepper.

So, it was interesting when Gleason promised a free can of Dr. Pepper for everyone if Chinese Democracy was released in 2008. Best case scenario for the consumer: both a new Guns N Roses album and a free can of Dr. Pepper. Best cae scenario for the company: Axel sits on his laurels for another few months and free publicity wins out over new music.

Thing is, Axel shot off Chinese Democracy in November, and we haven’t heard anything about free Dr. Pepper. Until now…

From Ad Age:

Alan Gutman, the lawyer representing Axl and Guns N’ Roses, sent a scolding letter (which cited Advertising Age’s coverage of the campaign), to Larry Young, president-CEO of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. The letter stated that Dr Pepper’s campaign had exploited the singer’s reputation and the “eagerly awaited” album, and stated that payment would be sought for the unauthorized use of the Guns N’ Roses brand.

Dr Pepper’s plan was to distribute the sodas through a coupon strategy in which consumers had to register at the brand’s website for a coupon that would be available for only 24 hours beginning after midnight on Nov. 23. The coupon could be redeemed at any retailer that sells Dr Pepper. But, according to reports, the beverage company’s website servers crashed due to the high number of people seeking coupons. Dr Pepper extended the offer for one more day but some consumers said they were still unable to claim their free soda through the site or a toll-free number.

“Here is the real problem with this,” said Ted Wright, managing partner at Fizz, a word-of-mouth marketing agency that specializes in the beverage and entertainment industry, . “Once it came time to pay up, they put together a three-hurdle process by which you had to redeem your can of soda. It’s like walking into a bar and saying ‘Drinks on me’ and then realizing there are 50 people in the bar and not five, and then saying ‘You can only get a beer if you speak Portuguese.’”

So we’re not getting our free Dr. Pepper? DAMN YOU SODA COMPANY!