Public embarrassment turned into great PR for GM after the San Francisco Giants won the World Series in Game 7 against the Kansas City Royals.
After every World Series victory an MVP is chosen and they usually get a car. This is usually not that memorable of an experience unless you are the person receiving the car.
That all changed when Rick Wille, zone manager and liaison between GM and its Kansas City-area dealers made a huge blunder while presenting the car to Madison Bumgarner of the Giants.
If you want to watch the video, here it is!
When the time was turned over to him he was totally shocked. He stumbled and had to look to his notes. He ad-libbed a line that would bring guffaws on social media: “It combines class-winning and leading, you know, technology and stuff, with Wi-Fi powered by OnStar.”
That was the line that made Rick Wille a star on Twitter and he became the Chevy Guy.
According to an ESPN article, #Technologyandstuff was trending on Twitter, as was #ChevyGuy, with many comparing Wilde to the comedian Chris Farley.
“ChevyGuy is the most hilariously awkward person ever,” one person tweeted.
“Chevy really sold me on their new Colorados with that class leading technology and stuff and immediate recalls!!!,” another tweeted, an obvious reference to GM’s safety problems.
Although people were mostly talking about how he messed up they were still talking about the brand. His blunder turned into a great unplanned PR stunt.
If you don’t believe me look at these statistics!
According to a Bloomberg.com article, Chevrolet, the official vehicle of Major League Baseball, has received at least $2.4 million in media exposure from Rikk Wilde’s unconventional presentation, much of it on social media, according to sponsorship evaluation firm Front Row Analytics. That’s six times more than the $392,000 it would have brought in with a more polished performance.
More people have talked about this year’s car presentation than ever before. I don’t care about trucks or Chevy, but I took the time to write a blog post about it!
Chevy even joined in the fun by using the hashtag #technologyandstuff
According to the ESPN article, Michael Albano, the brand’s top spokesman. Said that they saw quickly the ‘technologyandstuff’ tagline kind of take off and start to trend.
He said when they saw that trending that’s when they realized that they have something there to embrace.
GM should be thanking Chevy Guy for his gaffe. They got so much exposure from this it is not even funny!
Even if jokes are directed at him, Chevy is still in the hashtag and people are talking about GM.
Funny #ChevyGuy tweets:
Rob Stone @RobStoneONFOX
Disgusted that I am not going out as #ChevyGuy for Halloween.
When the world series mvp trophy was being given
Love
Public Relations & Advertising: Who's Got the Power? 
so funny… someone is a fk up and the company reaps rewards. I hope Rikk was able to reap some of the rewards!