When I first heard that Chevrolet sent out a memo to its employees announcing that they were forever ditching the term “Chevy” to maintain its brand consistency, my jaw dropped. How could a huge corporation who had the best of available branding consultants, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, do something so stupid? Why on earth would they want to eradicate the nickname “Chevy” which has immediate emotional connections with their customers (the type of deeply rooted connections that every brand dreams of having), and insist on a brand name that doesn’t?

“Chevy” has been used for about a 100 years, and has thoroughly seeped into our culture. The greatest, good ol’ blue collar American songs reference Chevy: Bob Seger’s “Night Moves,” Don McLean’s “American Pie,” and every family’s favorite sing-along, Snoop Dogg’s “Ridin’ in My Chevy.” The likelihood of impressing on Chevy lovers the importance of saying a longer, snootier name is low. Not just kind of low, but low like Lindsay Lohan’s chances of sobering up. This strategy is the exact opposite their goal: brand consistency. Rather, this is a brand shift that would alienate their base.

GM Spokesperson Klaus-Peter Martin insisted that it wasn’t a “secret viral campaign to bring hype to the brand,” yet their misguided memo resulted in a brilliance that Chevy probably wished was intentional. The threatened end of Chevy galvanized every red blooded, American, Chevy lover to defend their beloved moniker. Their uproar started a viral internet storm providing Chevy (oh, pardon moi, mes amis – “Chevrolet”) tons of free PR and all the hype they could possibly want for the mere cost of an internal memo.

After basking in their free and accidental brand resurgence for a day or so, Chevrolet released a second memo stating that their first was “poorly worded” and that their focus was to clarify their brand in international markets -- and NOT to keep people from saying Chevy. (This excuse wasn’t total corporate BS; China, for example, has an automotive company named Chery.)

In the end, Chevrolet accomplished both of its end goals: Chevy lovers are more virulently committed to their Chevy lifestyle, and Chevrolet has notified us that they will be known as Chevrolet in the rest of the world. I’m not sure whether to congratulate or wait for the firings to begin.