An Open Letter to Larry Young, CEO and Bungler-in-Chief of Dr Pepper

Dear Mr. Young:

An old show biz adage says you are only remembered for what you did last. If that adage is true, there is only one thing you will always be remembered for in the annals of Texas history: The Death of Dublin Dr Pepper.

When news broke on this story, those of us who grew up in Texas had many thoughts race through our heads. Of course, we will miss the soda, but what struck me most powerfully, as many fellow Texans, was what will happen to the town of Dublin? A town whose entire identity for 121 years was Dr Pepper? And furthermore, how was it even possible that a group of level-headed executives gathered in a board room somewhere in Plano did not ponder the atomic shockwave of disgust, sadness, and anger that would rip across Texas and even the world when this decision was made? It's almost miraculous how you found a way to piss off a million Texans at once. Honestly, before you ended production of Dublin Dr Pepper, I didn't even know it was possible.

It truly doesn't take more than about a third grade education to add these things up:

1. Dublin Dr Pepper is a cherished, venerated, honored Texas institution, a cultural icon only 46 years younger than the state of Texas itself. An icon, no less, which ranks right up there with the armadillo and The Alamo.

2. Ending this or changing it in any matter will do irreparable damage to your company's image.

Is this really that complicated?

As predictable as a windy day in Van Horn, once the news broke Dublin Dr Pepper supporters took to social media to level their backlash at Dr Pepper. Moderators of Dr Pepper's Facebook page initially started deleting comments about Dublin, but then the flood gates opened and THOUSANDS of people showed their support for Dublin Dr Pepper.

In what easily has to be The Most Epic Social Media Fail of the 21st Century, angry Dublin Dr Pepper customers commandeered the Dr Pepper Facebook page and it became a forum for not only displaying their disgust, but for organizing anti-Dr Pepper protests, circulating online petitions (which so far have garnered more than 20,000 signatures) and promoting OTHER soft drinks.

What was Dr Pepper's response to this historical, impossible-to-ignore uprising of its customers? What was their response to this colossal public relations FAIL?

Nothing. *Crickets chirping*

Dr Pepper's response to this cataclysmic uprising against its brand and image was to do and say absolutely nothing, which only fanned the fires of disgust. Meanwhile, people all over the state of Texas were beginning to realize what exactly life without Dublin Dr Pepper means. It's not about a soda - it's about the frightening gap between the way things once were and where they are going. Dublin Dr Pepper was as nostalgic as any product could ever be. We all drank it as kids, we all took the tour in Dublin. Dublin Dr Pepper represented sunny days, childhood, innocence. Dublin Dr Pepper represented everything that was RIGHT about America.

Enter: Corporate Dr Pepper, who dishonorably stole that innocence and expects us to blithely and mindlessly drink their "new" original drink, wrapped in "nostalgic packaging." Can I be honest? Texans don't appreciate having corporate products shoved down our throats. Do you really think some corporate knock off of an impossible- to- replace Texas tradition will suffice? Really?

Well guess what, Mr. Young...IT WON'T.

You see Mr. Young, Dublin Dr Pepper IS Texas, and Texas IS Dublin Dr Pepper. To shamelessly and recklessly try to separate the two for a buck is downright despicable. If you and your cohorts had any sense at all, you would have exploited Dublin Dr Pepper's popularity to your advantage. As my friend Andy Blanchard pointed out, you had at your disposal what every soft drink producer DREAMS of: a unique product with a cult following, whose supporters would drive to the ends of the earth to buy.

And what did you do with this gold mine? You squashed it. You left your brain in baggage claim and decided that ending the production of this product was a good idea.

Let me take a moment to explain some very important marketing concepts to you. When I think of Dublin Dr Pepper's demise I immediately see images of the Kloster family crying as they talk about Dublin Dr Pepper's demise. I see images of people pouring Dr Pepper down the toilet and every Dr Pepper sign in Dublin being painted over or ripped apart.

These are the lasting images of your actions and consequently, Dr Pepper has suffered irreparable damage to its image and hopefully its sales. What you traded for a piddly licensing disagreement was massive damage to Dr Pepper's image that will take years to fix, if ever.

Was it worth it?

Now, the canned response to all this outcry by Dr Pepper customer service reps has been "The original formula is still available." I would like to repeat this again because apparently no one is getting the message:

THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT A SODA. This is about tradition, a small town, a way of life - all of which was destroyed by your greedy actions. Until the Kloster family is producing Dublin Dr Pepper again, none of us will be happy.

Oh, and one more thing. By God, it better say "Dublin Dr Pepper" on the label.

I have heard a few people here or there blame Dublin Dr Pepper for being in the wrong. Blaming the victim will never get you far. This was a classic case of a company with an endless stream of revenue and lawyers versus a family owned company that had to start a legal fund. So we all know when Dr Pepper says "we've reached an agreement with Dublin Dr Pepper" what it really means is "we have more money and more lawyers and they waved the white flag of surrender."

So how do you fix this epic public relations disaster, Mr Young? It's really quite simple. You restore the production of Dublin Dr Pepper in the town of Dublin, Texas, and then you try something any Texan could have told you would work.

You embrace Dublin Dr Pepper. You mass produce it. You make it available to the whole country. You help the the whole world realize why Texans have been in love with Dublin Dr Pepper for 121 years.

Lastly, if your company's modus operandi (if you even have one) for this colossal failure is to "wait till it blows over" I hate to tell you this but it won't work. Do you remember the Alamo? That was 175 years ago and last time I checked people are STILL talking about it people and people STILL remember it. This whole "Dublin Dr Pepper" thing is not going away. If anything it's just getting started. The list of notable names who have publicly admonished your company is growing by the day and will keep growing. There's only one way to fix this, Mr. Young. Simply admit you were wrong and BRING BACK DUBLIN DR PEPPER!

REMEMBER DUBLIN!!

Sincerely,

Winston Hall