BevBlog

It’s not the third gunman on the grassy knoll, but this week’s dispute over a yellowed ledger with a formula marked “D Pepper Pepsin Bitters” may leave us with a mystery that can, sadly, only be resolved by opening a vault that’s likely to remain shut.

Both the Oklahoma man that found the ledger and his auction house claim that the recipe represents an early variation of Dr Pepper. The document dates back to around 1880 to 1890 they said (Dr Pepper debuted in 1885), and came from the pharmacy where Dr Pepper was first served.

Despite that evidence, The Dr Pepper Snapple Group says it isn’t the recipe for its flagship beverage.“Heck, it isn’t even a recipe for a soft drink,” the company said in a statement Monday.

But that didn’t quiet the auction house.

“Dr Pepper Snapple Group never claims that the ledger book from The Corner Drug Store in Waco… isn’t the original formula,” said Greg Rohan, president of the Heritage Auction Galleries, “just that it’s not the current one.”

It’s worth noting that the ledger lists 13 ingredients, while Dr Pepper famously includes 23 flavors.

Of course, the only way to clear up whether or not this “bitters” recipe has anything to do with Dr Pepper would be to gain access to the current formula. According to DPSG, that isn’t going to happen.

“Dr Pepper’s 23-flavor blend is safely under lock and key in an undisclosed location,” the company said. “The room is under 24-hour video surveillance and only one person in the world has access to this room. Only three members of the Dr Pepper family know the formula, and they aren’t talking.”

Axl Rose shocked the world last month when he finally released his “Chinese Democracy” album, but he shocked no one, it seems, more than the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

The company promised in March to give everyone in America a free Dr Pepper if Rose released the album during the 2008 calendar year. At the time, the event probably seemed about as likely as someone capturing a live Montauk Monster – but the retail arrival of the album forced DPSG to own up to its promotional boast and, ultimately, receive a public lambasting from Axl Rose.

The company instituted its free Dr Pepper program by directing consumers to a web site where they could enter information to receive, by mail, a coupon for a 20 oz. Dr Pepper. The offer was initially open only during the day the album came out, but internet-enabled consumers surged to the site in excess of what DPSG was prepared for. The site choked. To compensate, DPSG extended the offer to the following day, but that did little to stem the tide of freebie-seekers who overwhelmed the site’s capacity.

Rose’s lawyers responded last week by sending  a harshly-worded letter to DPSG criticizing their “appalling failure to make good on a promise,” and demanding a public apology. They suggested that apology come in the form of a full-page ad in The New York Times.

While this is probably an instance of Rose trying to milk more publicity for his album, it must sting to be called an “appalling failure” by a man who took 14 years to assemble 14 tracks.

This one may just right the economy. Or kill Dr Pepper. Or Both.

Axl Rose finally set a date – November 23 – for the release of his 17-year-in-the-making album Chinese Democracy. His managers said that they’d launch the album with a monumental promotion campaign. Maybe the combination of promotional money hitting record stores and hard rock nostalgia on Wall Street will be enough to return the economy to the tech-boom state that accompanied the release of Guns N’ Roses’ The Spaghetti Incident in 1993, but if that’s not enough, Dr Pepper is there to help.

The Dr Pepper Snapple Group pledged in March to give a free Dr Pepper to everybody in America if Rose released the album anytime this year. The company probably calculated the chances of Chinese Democracy arriving on record store shelves in 2008 to be vanishingly low – like when Taco Bell in 2001 promised free tacos if the Mir space station crashed into a floating 40’ by 40’ target in the South Pacific – but now it looks like the perennially-delayed work will make it to the (17-year older) rock n’ roll public next month.

In response to the shocking announcement, DPSG has done what it can to simultaneously promote its brand, reduce the promise’s cost to the company and hedge against Rose missing his release date. Again.

To receive your free Dr Pepper, visit drpepper.com and register for a free Dr Pepper coupon. The window will only be open for 24 hours, and the coupons will take 4-6 weeks to arrive – which is a long time to wait for a soda, but, then again, we’ve waited 17 years for a rock album.

In the strangest collision of the beverage and music worlds since witnesses watched Amy Winehouse snort vodka, Axl Rose has thanked Dr. Pepper for supporting his (maybe) forthcoming album, Chinese Democracy.

In a clear, Taco Bell-like stunt, the resilient number-three soda player announced that they would give a free can of Dr. Pepper to everyone in America if Axl releases the 17-year-in-the-making album sometime – anytime – during 2008.

The beverage company exempted estranged guitarists Slash and Bucketthead from the offer, and framed the promotion as encouraging Axl to release the album in a time when it is badly needed due to the current wash of wanabee singers and movies about high school musicals.

That’s exactly how Axl reacted to the promotion – publicly, at least.

Axl released a statement last week saying that he was surprised and happy about Dr. Pepper’s support and, as the album features performances by Buckethead, Axl would share his free beverage with the guitarist.