Well, Bob's not crazy:

Many have tried, but so far nobody has been able to pry the decade-in-the-works Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" from the hands of lone remaining original member Axl Rose.

Now, Dr Pepper thinks it's up to the challenge. The soft drink company says it will give a free can of Dr Pepper to "everyone in America" (excluding ex-GNR members Slash and Buckethead) if "Chinese Democracy" arrives anytime during the calendar year 2008.

Although it turns out that it's not wacky Axl Rose making this promise, it's the soda company itself. In fact, Axl wrote:

We are surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr. Pepper with our album Chinese Democracy as for us this came totally out of the blue. If there is any involvement with this promotion by our record company or others we are unaware of such at this time. And as some of Buckethead's performances are on our album I'll share my Dr. Pepper with him.

Axl Rose

Looking into more about why my favorite Sinistar-sampling guitarist isn't getting his own Dr. Pepper, i found this statement from GnR on wikipedia:

During his tenure with the band, Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and his commitment, despite being under contract, creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals, and live plans with confidence. His transient lifestyle has made it near impossible for even his closest friends to have nearly any form of communications with him whatsoever.

Tangentially, Ozzy (who sounds much more coherent in print) had this to say about him:

I tried out that Buckethead guy. I met with him and asked him to work with me but only if he got rid of the fucking bucket. So I came back a bit later and he's wearing this green fucking Martian's-hat thing! I said, 'Look, just be yourself'. He told me his name was Brian, so I said that's what I'd call him. He says, 'No one calls me Brian except my mother'. So I said, 'Pretend I'm your mum then!'. I haven't even got out of the room and I'm already playing fucking mind games with the guy. What happens if one day he's gone and there's a note saying, 'I've been beamed up'? Don't get me wrong, he's a great player. He plays like a motherfucker.

I also read that Buckethead put out 28 albums in 2007. He's an interesting guy. Despite this "Brian" cover story, i still think he's either Eddie Van Halen looking for a way to play anonymously or a never-truly-died Randy Rhodes.

i don't know why any of this would preclude bob's being crazy.

I think he meant the "not crazy" part as a case by case thing. This case showing that I'm not crazy.

dr. pepper's site was so broken, i couldn't get in to get my free soda. jerks.

Me, neither and I tried several times on several different computers.