Free Dr Pepper Coupon is Elusive

Lovable Dr Pepper, the soft drink with the cute advertising strategy, isn't getting much love today. People are supposed to be able to get a coupon for a free 20-ounce Dr Pepper, but across America they are complaining that drpepper.com is overloaded, which is true, at least as of 3 p.m. EST.

People are angry at Dr Pepper, a company that also makes Snapple, because they can't get their Dr Pepper coupon. People are hot. People are so hot, they just might need an ice-cold Dr. Pepper. But if they can't get the Dr. Pepper coupon, how do they cool off? It's a huge Catch-22.

Well, we all know the economy is going bad, but is the economy so bad that the lack of a free Dr Pepper coupon is creating a national riot?

People should consider offering some good humor instead of becoming all irate when they can't access drpepper.com. Dr Pepper doesn't represent some sort of corporate giant. Dr. Pepper is the little guy, the underdog, like Avis Car Rental. And so if Dr. Pepper really does botch a promotion for a free Dr Pepper coupon, it just sort of adds to the lore.

Can't we give credit to Dr Pepper for being funny enough to find pitchman strategies with Julius "Dr. J" Erving and Kelsey "Dr. Frasier Crane" Grammer? The pair of quasi docs prescribe that you should drink Dr Pepper slowly in order to savor the 23 flavors, and if you have doubts, you are reassured, "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor." If you didn't laugh when you first saw one of those ads, you probably are stuck with Coke or Pepsi in the first place.

Before getting all sour at your lack of a free Dr Pepper coupon, give some thought to history.

Dr Pepper is 123 years old, beating out Coke by one year. A pharmacist in Waco, Texas, came up with the special blend of flavors in 1885, and people soon started ordering "Wacos" at the soda fountain. Obviously, a better name than "Waco" was needed.

In a corporate power play, Coke tried to swallow up Dr Pepper during the 1980s, but our anti-monopoly federal government blocked the deal. Otherwise, we might have ended up with "The New Dr Pepper," and the economic bailout would be costing even more billions of dollars.

Dr Pepper was "Dr. Pepper," with a period, until a new logo was crafted during the 1950s. The state of American education has been in decline ever since.

Did that old "I'm a Pepper, You're a Pepper" jingle used to get on your nerves? Barry Manilow helped to write it.

Just so you know when planning your next vacation, there is a Dr Pepper Museum in Waco that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

So there you go. How can you still remain all hot about the lack of a free Dr Pepper coupon?

SOURCES

http://www.adgabber.com/video/video/show?id=546804%3AVideo%3A109147

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/dr-pepper-launches-new-ad,482884.shtml

http://www.newser.com/story/33522/dr-pepper-ads-want-you-to-sip-not-guzzle.html

http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/dr-pepper-giving-away-free-sod.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_Pepper