So was it just a plain old bad idea? Was it a “rough draft” and a “bit of fun,” as a senior Chevrolet executive explained, regarding a memo disclosed by the NY Times yesterday in which the company exhorted against use of Chevy in favor of the full name? Or was it something more sinister, even clever, a stunt designed to get fresh attention for the old brand?
The company wasted little time in responding to the negative public reaction in response to the NY Times article, which reported:
Bye-bye, indeed, Miss American Pie. If General Motors has its way, you won’t be driving your Chevy to the levee ever again.On Tuesday, G.M. sent a memo to Chevrolet employees at its Detroit headquarters, promoting the importance of “consistency” for the brand, which was the nation’s best-selling line of cars and trucks for more than half a century after World War II.
And one way to present a consistent brand message, the memo suggested, is to stop saying “Chevy,” though the word is one of the world’s best-known, longest-lived product nicknames.
While there aren’t many people that are going to stop using the shortened name, it is easy to see why Chevy would want to be consistent in their brand message. In today’s paper, there was a follow-up piece, which said:
But after a strong public reaction to a
report in The New York Times on the note, G.M. issued a statement on
Thursday that said the memorandum had been “poorly worded.” The
statement said that the memorandum reflected Chevrolet’s strategy as it
expanded internationally, but that the company was not “discouraging
customers or fans from using” Chevy.
My Chevy will always be a “Chevy” no matter what GM tells me. What is wrong with these people. How can I refer to a 55 Chevy as a 55 Chevrolet… It just doesn’t sound right.