Guns N’ Roses have finished recording their album “Chinese Democracy” back in 1994. Its release has been on hold since that year, and fans have been expecting it to come out in each of the past 14 years. Their dream, however, never materialized. Dr Pepper Snapple Group took advantage of the yearly hype regarding the release of album “Chinese Democracy,” and launched a promotion which entailed that everyone in the United States would get a free Dr. Pepper drink if Guns N’ Roses would finally release the album in 2008.

To receive your free drink, you had to register on their website, by filling in a form. After the form was filled, you had to wait for your coupon, go down to the nearest store and receive your drink. The fine print reads that you may wait between 4 and 6 weeks to receive your coupon for a free Dr. Pepper drink, yet you only have 24 hours to registers in order to receive the coupon. Thus, your coupon is valid until the 28th of February, 2009. 

The album “Chinese Democracy” hit the stores yesterday, and officials from Dr. Pepper kept their word and went through with their promise deal. Rumor has it that the release of the album was delayed because of the conflict between Guns N’ Roses’ front man Axl Rose and the rest of the band. Moreover, it seems that the problems started when Axl Rose started fiddling with the music without the consent or counsel of the other members. By 2005, Rose had recorded over 60 songs, and the whole process had cost Geffen Records over $13 million. Axl Rose is currently the last remaining original member of Guns N’ Roses.