"The New York Times" reported today that General Motors and its Chevrolet division is attempting to estop employees, dealers and others associated with the brand, which I suppose also includes its customers from using the diminutive "Chevy." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/automobiles/10chevy.html?hp
“We’d ask that whether you’re talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising, or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward,” said Alan Batey, vice president for Chevrolet sales and service, and Jim Campbell, the G.M. division’s vice president for marketing in a memo.
Reportedly, Goodby Silverstein is behind this suggestion.
But given that the word Chevy is in extremely wide-circulation and is probably a consumer preference, it seems to me that GM's edict borders on the autocratic. It seems the very opposite of being sensitive to consumer proclivities.
