Chinese Democracy they had cost $12 million." On March 26, 2008, media reported that soft drinks manufacturer Dr Pepper would offer a free can of its product to everyone in America—excluding former Guns N' Roses guitarists Buckethead and Slash—if the band released "Chinese Democracy" in 2008. Later that day, Rose wrote of his surprise at the company's support on the Guns N' Roses website, and said he would share his Dr Pepper with Buckethead as "some of Buckethead's performances are on "Chinese Democracy"". After it was announced that the album would be released in 2008, Dr Pepper confirmed that it would uphold
Chinese Democracy its pledge. On the album's release, however, Dr Pepper's online distribution of coupons proved inadequate. Lawyers for the band threatened Dr Pepper's parent company with a lawsuit two days after the album's release; in a letter to the company, Rose's lawyer Alan Gutman said: "The redemption scheme your company clumsily implemented for this offer was an unmitigated disaster which defrauded consumers and, in the eyes of vocal fans, ruined "Chinese Democracy"'s release." Gutman also demanded the company make a full-page apology that would appear in "The Wall Street Journal", "USA Today", "The New York Times", and "The Los Angeles Times".