BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:
Our final story here tonight comes from
corporate America
. It involves a
brand name
often considered synonymous with
America
,
Chevy
. A few executives at
Chevrolet
wrote a memo. They briefly thought it would be a good idea to, quote, "communicate our brand as
Chevrolet
going forward." Well, what about those of us who own what we like to call a
Chevy
? What about one of the great names in the car business? That idea didn't last long, it turns out. The story from
NBC
's
Kevin Tibbles
.
KEVIN TIBBLES reporting:
If
Harrison Ford
's driving it, it's got to be an American icon. Hey,
Dinah Shore
even sang about it.
TIBBLES:
But when
Don McLean
went to the levee...
Mr. DON McLEAN:
Drove my
Chevy
to the levee...
TIBBLES:
...he drove his
Chevy
, not his
Chevrolet
. It was a generational thing. Cool dads drove a
Chevy Impala
.
Hot shots
had a '
57 Chevy
, or a
Chevy Nova
. I wanted one. So news
General Motors
employees were being told to stop using the word
Chevy
came as a bit of a shock.
Ms. LAURA RIES (Marketing Analyst):
And everyone went, what? What are they doing? GM got a lot of calls. People were going nuts.
Unidentified Man:
Chevrolet
.
TIBBLES:
Sweet! In today's papers,
Chevrolet
's own ads were using the word
Chevy
. In a statement
General Motors
explains it's all a misunderstanding due to a poorly worded memo. "We love
Chevy
. In no way are we discouraging customers or fans from using the name," it says.
TIBBLES:
Once upon a time
,
Coke
tried to fiddle with the tried and true. That didn't last too long, either.
John Kurtz
loves his
Chevys
and loves his 'vette.
Mr. JOHN KURTZ:
It's part of the fabric of the
United States
.
TIBBLES:
Should they change it?
Mr. KURTZ:
They can't change it.
TIBBLES:
So what's in a name?
Unidentified Woman:
It'll be
Chevy
for my lifetime.
TIBBLES:
Now there's some old-fashioned
America
brand loyalty for you.
Offscreen Voice:
That's baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and
Chevrolet
.
TIBBLES:
Make that
Chevy
.
Kevin Tibbles
,
NBC News
,
Chicago
.
WILLIAMS:
Appropriate story, too, because
Kevin Tibbles
, the best Canadian import since
Molson Golden
, became an
American citizen
today. Congratulations,
Kevin
. Welcome.
“ ”