History, we suspect, will not be kind to ad slogans developed by Chevrolet in recent years. While past pitches such as “Like A Rock” were at least evocative, phrases like “An American Revolution” and “We’ll Be There” didn’t do much to conjure up images of cars. While “Excellence For Everyone” had promise, Chevy used it for about 15 minutes before embracing “Chevy Runs Deep.”
To be honest, even we don’t know what that was supposed to mean, and we suspect that “Chevy… Because Wolverine” would have been equally effective. Regardless of our negative opinion (and for the record, an opinion shared by virtually everyone else who writes about cars for a living), GM stuck with the tagline for two years, which is about three years longer than it should have.
Now that former marketing head Joel Ewanick is gone, it’s time for a new slogan, and Chevy’s latest pitch will be “Find New Roads.” It’s no “Like A Rock,” to be sure, and we don’t think it measures up to “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet,” but it’s a giant improvement over “Chevy Runs Deep.”
Mary Barra, Chevy’s senior vice president of global product development, explains the slogan as, “Find New Roads embraces the spirit of ingenuity that has been in Chevrolet’s DNA since the beginning and it will continue to guide every aspect of our business moving forward. We have sold Chevrolets around the world for almost a century, but this is the first time we have aligned behind one global vision.”
As a global rallying slogan, we suppose that could work. Until, of course, someone realizes that the phrase means something entirely unfavorable in another language.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
