Chevy Instead of Chevrolet? We Say No
Never once, in my entire life, have I called a Chevrolet "Chevy." Never, during my years as creative director for the brand's ad agency, did we write an ad or commercial containing the word "Chevy." So I'm on the side of the GM executive who sent out a memo to staffers last week telling them to abandon the nickname "Chevy" and to refer to the brand by its proper name, Chevrolet. Maybe this places me next to the guy on a list of out-of-touch-with-reality characters who don't understand how people communicate these days but I think he was right (link goes to a Detroit News reporter with an opposing point-of-view).
Forget all that nonsense you're reading in various journalist blogs about icons and American pie. Sure, the marque holds a noble place in US automotive history but that's all the more reason to use its proper name. Which, by the way, came from the founder, race driver Louis Chevrolet. Nobody ever called him Louis Chevy. In fact, all during my lifetime, when we were unwilling or too lazy to do otherwise, we referred to the cars as "Chevs" or "my Chev" or "he's a Chev dealer."
That said, do I get upset when someone says "Chevy?" Actually, yes. It's too damned cute, an example of today's generation's eagerness to "cutesify" everything, a generation that can't seem to get through a sentence without using the word "like" at least three times. I have an equal distaste for derivations such as "Bimmer" for BMW, "Caddy" for Cadillac or "Phil" for Philip. Okay, just kidding about that last one but at this crucial moment when we want Chevrolet to succeed, I think we should pay proper homage to one of the auto world's greatest names.
Don't agree? Feel free to fire back in the Comments link below.
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