The Greenwash to End All Greenwashing? GM reportedly pondering changing logo color
2010 Chevy Spark - Click above for high-res image gallery
General Motors has certainly been pumping out a greener message for the last few years, but, on the eve of its likely emergence from bankruptcy, it looks like it might be ridiculously difficult to miss the company's shift to a new and very public eco-mindset: The General's traditional blue square logo could become green. No, really.While no official decision has yet been made, insiders are saying that the background color change is being considered, "in an effort to show consumers that it is leaner and greener, more focused on fuel efficiency and better able to make quick decisions," says MSNBC.
The fuel efficiency meaning of a possible new green logo is easy to understand and the "quick decisions" part reflects a new GM that will likely have 35 percent fewer executives to go along with fewer employees overall. More announcements on these issues and the fate of the Spark minicar could come tomorrow, when GM is expected to emerge from bankruptcy.
The real color change that GM needs to make, of course, is a shift from red to black – but that's significantly harder than swapping pixels in a logo.
Gallery: Geneva 2009: Chevy Spark
[Source: MSNBC | Logo Image: Adam Morath/AOL]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
MemphisNET 10:33AM (7/09/2009)
I'm all for being neat and tidy when it comes to mother earth, and conserving where I can...
.. I am SICK of all this green bullshyte everywhere in our lives.
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EVan 10:41AM (7/09/2009)
Don't worry.... it's not going to happen.
The MSNBC article just mentions that it was discussed but unlike the planned changes to staffing numbers nothing seems to be in the works for a logo change.
Changing it to green would be straight up stupid and it's kind of ridiculous that they even discussed it to any extent.
MemphisNET 10:46AM (7/09/2009)
It's not that I'm worried... I'm just very tired of the 'green' initiative in general, how everything in our society has to have an eco-friendly spin on it. It's sickening.
Tdogg 10:57AM (7/09/2009)
Exactly, this would work as good for GM as when Ford renamed the 500 the Taurus.
HotRodzNKustoms 11:10AM (7/09/2009)
I 100% agree with you Memphis. I am totally on board with recycling and not being wasteful but the whole green movement is BS. It is an exercise in ignoring the facts because they only get in the way. As for the logo the only color scheme change I could even remotely possibly see the General consider is going to a more industrial look like the GM badges they now place on the cars.
Jared 11:14AM (7/09/2009)
It's not everyone in our society, it's the big corporations. They put the green spin on all of their products/advtertising/etc. to make the common person believe "Oh, they care about the environment, I should buy their product." Where in reality they did nothing but maybe change what they talk about on the label. It's all a big push to get more money at the expense of their consumers.
However, the whole green GM thing must of come up in a board meeting where they were brainstorming how to get people to trust their company again.
Motor_Yakuza 11:22AM (7/09/2009)
Yeah that logo makes me puke.
UCJR 11:27AM (7/09/2009)
Couldn't have said it better. I've always recycled, lived modestly, turned off lights in rooms i'm not using, turned off appliances, used tap water rather than bottled, etc. I always was taught that the particular lifestyle I was used to was good in that it saved money and was socially responsible because I wasn't wasting much.
I guess I was 'green' all along. I get tired of all the 'green' and 'eco-friendly' bull I get fed every day. Everything has to have a 'green' slant. The environmentalists look down at me because I don't drive a Prius, yet they do so from the doorstep of their 4000sq.ft. home that costs four times as much to heat/cool/power as my house.
So I guess i'm not green after all. Oh well. Time to guy buy some social irresponsible car and burn some dinosaurs just for fun :-)
James 11:53AM (7/09/2009)
"in an effort to show consumers that it is leaner and greener, more focused on fuel efficiency and better able to make quick decisions,"
And the name of this shade of green on the planned new GM logo...
"subliminal green"
Not Detroit 12:17PM (7/09/2009)
The "eco" religion is getting ridiculous, with some of the eco-freaks suggesting that roofs all over the world be painted white so that heat can be reflected back into space, where the eco-freaks come from.
That's why I'm an eco-atheist; I don't believe in the religion of environmentalism.
As far as the future of GM, I have just one suggestion. British Leyland. Look at what they did and do the opposite.
tuxchown 3:29PM (7/09/2009)
British Leyland was not the same situation as we have with Chrysler and General Motors.
clicketyclack 4:20PM (7/09/2009)
@notdetroit
Actually, white is the best color for roofs as it is the most reflective and would likely reduce the amount of electricity required to keep your home cool. In contrast, black roofs absorb solar radiation. I would like to go on about the importance of reflecting solar radiation and the shrinking white glaciers that play an enormous part in regulating the earths temperature by reflecting said solar radiation but I do not want to overwhelm you with all of this ridiculous science stuff.
Chris 10:33AM (7/09/2009)
This was someone in the government's idea, I bet. This is too much, even for image-starved GM execs. Wow, this is lame.
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P.V. 10:37AM (7/09/2009)
I don't really care about this, what I care more about is at least removing the gold color from the Chevy bowtie or replacing the bowtie altogether.
Read IL LT's GM Textcast Part II
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MikeofLA 11:07AM (7/09/2009)
Agreed. When I first read this I immediately hoped that it was just the Chevrolet logo. A giant gold bowtie does not look good on any car.
clicketyclack 4:26PM (7/09/2009)
I completely agree. I say the same thing every time I comment on a Chevrolet in this forum and people go ballistic on me. It's like I spit on their mother or something.
renshcp 8:52AM (7/10/2009)
Yeah my sister-in-law is completely clueless and ordered a Lexus LX with the gold emblem package. I made her cancel.... I had to explain to her that gold USED to be cool... but now platinum/silver color is the new gold. She still bought that ugly SUV, but without the gold logos..... then let somebody convince her that she should spell L E X U S down the side of the car in huge gold sticker letters... YUCK. She's hopeless.
So I'm definitely in the anti-gold chevy logo camp... where do I sign the petition?
GOT 11:48PM (7/12/2009)
The bowtie is VERY cool. Their cars are not.
tgriffith 10:40AM (7/09/2009)
They don't need a color change. They need a name change:
http://www.cargurus.com/blog/2009/06/16/its-time-for-gm-to-change-its-name/
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jamie 10:41AM (7/09/2009)
35% fewer executives
45% fewer employees
55% fewer facilities
Where does this all lead to you might ask?
65% FEWER CUSTOMERS!
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