Unless your name is Slash or Buckethead, you’re due a free soda. Dr Pepper is about to come through on its promise to give everyone in America (minus 2) a free soda if Guns N’ Roses manages to release

album before the end of the year. The band has been working on the album for some 15 years, but they say the CD is set to hit the streets on November 23, which means free soda for everyone (insert proper celebratory music here). To get your free pop, go to

on or after November 23, and register for the give-away. (You’ll get a coupon in the mail in four to six weeks.)

Axl Rose, who says none of the Guns N’ Roses folks knew about the promotion, is eligible for a free soda, which he promises to share with his friend, Buckethead. (BTW, Buckethead is coming to Houston on November 7. He’ll be at the Meridian. Maybe the crowd can buy him a consolation Coke since he’s on Dr. Pepper’s “No Freebie for You” list.)

In other “This Won’t Cost You Anything” news, Taco Bell is giving away one free crunchy beef taco to every customer who walks in to one of their restaurants between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on October 22. Taco Bell’s generosity is part of the company’s “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion. Boston Red Sox player Jacoby Ellsbury of the stole a base during the second game of the 2007 World Series, and somehow that translates into free tacos for everyone (hey, don’t ask – this is free food, okay?). — Olivia Flores Alvarez

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