Chevy shelves ‘Find New Roads’ tagline, debuts a new slogan touting togetherness—behind the move

It’s the end of the road for Chevrolet’s “Find New Roads” tagline. The General Motors brand is ditching the slogan after a 10-year run, replacing it with “Together let’s drive.” The swap is meant to connect the mass-marketed brand with what a top Chevy exec said is a desire for unity in a country often portrayed as divided. “I think this sense of togetherness is something that people are really, really thirsty for,” said Chevrolet Marketing VP Steve Majoros. “I think it’s something that everyone deep down feels because it’s easy to criticize how things are today … but deep down, what people told us is, that’s not me. That’s not my family. That’s not my community. That’s not how I feel.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs The effort is backed with new advertising from Interpublic’s Commonwealth/McCann. The tagline is introduced via a manifesto video debuting today on Chevy-owned digital channels, including those run by Chevy dealers. The video features a variety of Chevy vehicles shown in various American landscapes, from the countryside to the beach to a cityscape, while positioning the brand as helping people of all kinds get to where they want to go. But most paid support will go behind a more practical ad that promotes the affordability of several models. The spot, which will debut on TV during Game 1 of the World Series tonight on Fox, is typical of the approach Chevy will use for the new tagline—meaning fewer sweeping ads about America’s psyche and more spots plugging specific models. Majoros described the approach as “less academic,” suggesting the dialogue will use “common language” to replicate the “kind of a conversation you’d have with people—you know, chit-chatting.” That is a much different vibe than Chevy has previously taken when debuting new taglines. In 2010, “Chevy Runs Deep” from Goodby Silverstein & Partners was introduced with a documentary-style commercial voiced by actor Tim Allen that also debuted in the World Series. (See the ad and other historical Chevy taglines below.) But that campaign, which often leaned into Chevy’s heritage with archival footage and flowery language, was criticized as failing to give rational reasons to buy Chevys, as documented by Ad Age at the time. “Find New Roads” debuted in the 2013 Grammy Awards with a lengthy ad from Commonwealth that featured a variety of vehicles plugged via a mashup of vignettes and a voiceover from actor John Cusack. Then-GM marketing head Alan Batey described the line as more flexible and better positioned to use globally. It proved to have staying power, lasting a decade—but of late it has been downplayed, not even appearing in recent TV spots. “Nothing against ‘Find New Roads,’ but ‘Find New Roads’ felt a little, to be honest, a little languid,” Majoros said. The new tagline and approach “has a lot more forward lean to it. It’s brighter, it’s more colorful, I think it’s more specifically tuned in with people’s mindset.” Of course, suggesting togetherness might seem out of touch at a time when the nation is extremely divided politically, with a presidential election year on the horizon that will surely be as rough and tumble as ever. But Majoros said that through research, Chevy discovered that “deep down what people feel is they do want to feel more connected. They do want to feel together. They do want to feel more positive, hopeful and optimistic.” Chevy will express those themes in a down-to-earth fashion, leaning into everyday life moments. As a clue to what’s to come, Majoros pointed to a recent ad for the entry-level Chevy Trax that portrayed a woman telling her mom that she got a new job, and then imagining her life after buying the vehicle. Chevy will be using the “together” line as it seeks to overcome a divide with its unionized workforce—the United Autoworkers Union began striking against GM, Stellantis and Ford on Sept. 15, demanding higher pay and more benefits. Ford reached a tentative agreement with the UAW on Wednesday that calls for a cumulative 25% percent wage increase. As of Friday morning, the strike against Stellantis and GM continued. On Tuesday, GM executives said the strike had already cost it $800 million. Majoros, who was interviewed earlier this week before the Ford-UAW deal was announced, said Chevy did not consider delaying the tagline debut until the labor strife was over. “We’re playing the long game here,” he said. “And the long game is, we’re going to be successful together ourselves and our UAW partners.” Below, a look at some of Chevy’s taglines through the years. Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2023 Ad spending, rankings and analysis for the top 100 advertisers Click here See the USA in your Chevrolet It premiered on the “The Dinah Shore Show” in the mid-1950s and Shore sang the jingle at the end of her shows through 1961. Ad Age in 1999 ranked it as the fifth-best jingle of the 20th Century. Chevy has revisited it over the years, including during a post-Super Bowl episode of “Glee,” when the cast of the Fox musical comedy sang it in a custom two-minute ad. Baseball, Hot Dogs and Apple Pie Debuting in 1975, the tagline leaned heavily into Americana via the slogan, which came from Campbell Ewald. Chevy recast its hot dog-apple pie image in 2021 by making an Apple Pie Hot Dog in collaboration with Guy Fieri, debuting it during the Major League Baseball Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa. Dive deeper into Chevrolet advertising history in this timeline Heartbeat of America The line, which came out in 1986, featured pulsating music that was “a bit spicier than Chevy’s usual apple-pie image,” Ad Age reported at the time. A “Women’s Heartbeat” Camaro commercial in 1986 was credited for departing from female ad stereotypes by showing women as self-confident. Like A Rock Detroit-area native Bob Seger entered Chevy’s marketing playbook with his song backing truck ads from 1986 through the end of the 2004 model year. Chevy Runs Deep Even though his uncle worked for Ford, Allen sided with Chevy—at least for this tagline, via a campaign he voiced that debuted in 2010. But when it comes to ads, the actor had more success with his long-running “Pure Michigan” tourism efforts—Chevy Runs Deep had a short run. Find New Roads The tagline debuted in 2013, and showed staying power—but it was often overshadowed, simply appearing at the end of ads that focused on other themes. That includes the “Real People, Not Actors” campaign that used focus group-style ads that went national in 2015 and remained in place for years. Read more: Secrets of the ‘Real People’ Chevrolet campaign Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

Chevy shelves ‘Find New Roads’ tagline, debuts a new slogan touting togetherness—behind the move

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