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General Motors Affirms Ban on “Chevy,’ Twiddles With Cadillac Logo, Recalls 1.5 Million Vehicles

Failed automobile company General Motors announced today that a memo earlier this week ordering employees to stop referring to Chevrolet as “Chevy” was ” poorly worded .”

“In no way are we discouraging customers or fans from using the name,” today’s announcement read. Translation: Just as the earlier memo had said, General Motors is still discouraging employees from using the Chevy name.

The announcement, which uses a GM logo in lieu of the words General Motors , affirms the memo’s message that the company is suppressing its use of Chevy  because it sees a “need to move toward a consistent name.” In the original message, GM had cited two examples of consistent brand management for Chevrolet/Chevy to follow: Apple Computer, maker of the Apple MacintoshBook computer and the iAppleMacintoshPhone, and Coca-Cola, the company behind such winning slogans as “Have a Coca-Cola and a Smile,” “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coca-Cola,” and “Coca-Cola Adds Life.”

Meanwhile, the Cadillac division of the taxpayer-owned automobile maker has continued to roll out its latest redesigned logo . The company last redid its crest in 2002, scraping away the original crown and heraldic ducks to produce a crude, Lego-like color-block emblem (the company called it Mondrian-inspired), suitable for rendering at enormous size on the company’s bloated Escalade SUV. The new design adds raised lines to slightly separate the blocks of color. 

Also this week, GM announced the recall of 1.5 million vehicles —including Cadillac’s DTS, CTS, and three Escalade models, as well as the Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, and Traverse—because their windshield-fluid heaters could possibly start a fire. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered the company to recall the Cadillac SRX because the use of non-premium gasoline could cause the engines to fail.