Does it Live Up to the Hype?
Chinese Democracy
By Nathan Johnson
Earlier this year, something kind of interesting happened. Dr. Pepper, a soda maker whose drink I hope you’ve had at least once, released a sort of bizarre announcement that if the rock band Guns n’ Roses were to release its long-delayed album “Chinese Democracy” by the end of 2008, Dr. Pepper would give every American a free soda.
As a publicity stunt, Dr. Pepper really couldn’t go wrong. While there was no obvious tie-in or knowledge by the band concerning Dr. Pepper’s plans, it was a great way to generate some free publicity. Media outlets all over the United States talked about it when it first was made public in March of this year. That gave Dr. Pepper an opportunity to hit its “23 flavors” message, and the company made a statement about taking a long time to perfect that formula, much like it was taking Gn’R frontman Axl Rose a long time to perfect the formula for the new record.
In case you were wondering what constitutes “a long time,” this album has been in the works for 14 years and has had several promised release dates come and go. In more recent years, it had actually become a punchline used by anyone wanting to indicate that a project would never reach completion.
But now, it apparently has reached completion. That means we’re all getting free soda. It also means that, just like in March, every media outlet that talked about how we might get a free soda posted additional stories detailing how we will get those free sodas from Dr. Pepper. More free publicity.
But the genius doesn’t stop there.
To get your free soda, you have to go to Dr. Pepper’s website on the Nov. 23 release date (hmmm, Nov. 23, and Dr. Pepper has 23 flavors) and fill out a bit of info so they can send you the coupon. That means Dr. Pepper collects information on every American that wants a free soda – information the company can use in the future for additional marketing purposes, and all it costs them is a single soda per person.
On our end, we get a free Dr. Pepper, and, unless you absolutely hate Dr. Pepper (and why would you?), it’s hard to argue with a free drink.
So, the genius publicity stunt is a win-win, meaning it totally lives up to the hype. A free Dr. Pepper definitely lives up to the hype. That leaves only one element not really covered – the actual “Chinese Democracy” album. Does it live up to the hype?
That may be the toughest part to determine. The title track from the album has been available online for a few weeks. It’s not bad, but it’s not the same as great Gn’R of old. The intro to the song sounds a lot like the intro to “Owner of a Lonely Heart” by Yes (I know this because I played the intros together, alternating back and forth between the “Chinese Democracy” stream and the YouTube video for “Owner of a Lonely Heart”).
Not knowing how the rest of the album stacks up, it’s hard to say if it will live up to the hype, but it might be safe to speculate that an album that people expected to receive more than a decade ago probably can’t meet the expectations that have been mounting over the years. Assuming that it really does come out on Nov. 23 (there are a lot of people who won’t believe it’s true until the album is cradled safely in their arms whilst exiting Best Buy), then we’ll all have a chance to form our own opinions on whether or not the 14-years-in-development “Chinese Democracy” lives up to the hype.
At least if it doesn’t, we’ll be able to drown our sorrows in a tall, frosty glass of Dr. Pepper.
E-mail the authors: Nathan Johnson
