GM Sends “Chevy” Nickname to the Dump

Thursday, 10 June 2010 | by Pat's Picks

Is this what happens when the federal government gets involved in business? General Motors has decided it’s bad for business to let people to use the “Chevy” nickname. The New York Times says a memo’s gone through GM headquarters mandating the use of “Chevrolet” instead. The Times notes that the internal memo tried to emphasize the importance of consistent branding by using Coke as an example. GM seems to have missed the fact that Coke’s short for Coca-Cola. Branding experts say GM it actually much more common for a nickname to resonate with the public - FedEx and KFC just two examples.

The Times says GM may get their employees to follow suit, but will have a much harder time wiping away the hundreds of pop culture references to Chevy: