New campaign, and logo, for GM in a bid to electrify image

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is changing its corporate logo and launching an electric vehicle marketing campaign to reshape its image as clean vehicle company, rather than a builder of gas-powered pickups and SUVS.

The 112-year-old Detroit automaker has promised to roll out 30 new battery-powered vehicles globally by the end of 2025 and said Friday that the new campaign will highlight its progressive vision for the future.

GM said the industry has reached a history-changing inflection point for mass adoption of electric vehicles.

The campaign comes as stock market investors are enthralled with companies that make electric vehicles. Shares of global EV leader Tesla Inc. have skyrocketed more than 800% in the past year, and the company’s market value has passed $800 billion. GM’S shares are only up slightly in the past year and its value is around $61 billion.

Shares of GM were down 1.6% to $42.61 in Friday afternoon trading.

GM is scrapping its old square blue logo and replacing it with a lower case gm surrounded by rounded corners. The company says it’s the biggest change to its logo since 1964. The ‘m’ in the logo is underlined to look more like an electrical plug.

“We felt it was just such a transformative moment that this is the time that we would change again,” said Deborah Wahl, GM global chief marketing officer. “Our message here is that we believe there should be an EV for everyone.”

GM is hoping the “Everybody In” campaign prepares buyers for a new era of vehicle propulsion.

Wahl said the marketing campaign will be “very significant,” but she wouldn’t say how much money would be spent or where it will show up. “You will see it in many places throughout the year,” she said Friday. She said the campaign will start in the United States but eventually will become global. It will not be in brand ads for vehicles, Wahl said.

The company has promised to spend $27 billion on battery vehicles through 2025.

The marketing campaign will feature celebrities including Malcom Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point.” tenure in office and what comes next for a torn nation.

Protesters were urged by Trump during a rally near the White House earlier Wednesday to head to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers were scheduled to confirm Biden’s presidential victory. The mob swiftly broke through police barriers, smashed windows and paraded through the halls, sending lawmakers into hiding.

One protester, a woman from California, was shot to death by Capitol Police, and there were dozens of arrests. Three other people died after “medical emergencies” related to the breach.

Despite Trump’s repeated claims of voter fraud, election officials and his own former attorney general have said there were no election problems on a scale that would change the outcome. All the states have certified their results as fair and accurate, by Republican and Democratic officials alike.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-neb., said news of the police officer’s death was “gutwrenching.”

“None of this should have happened,” Sasse said in a statement. “Lord, have mercy.”

Sicknick had returned to his division office after the incident and collapsed, the statement said. He was taken to a local

hospital where he died late Thursday.

Trump did not personally comment on the officer’s death, but a White House spokesman said the death of any police officer in the line of duty is “a solemn reminder that they run toward danger to maintain peace.’’ Trump and the entire administration ”extend our prayers to Officer Brian Sicknick’s family as we all grieve the loss of this American hero,’’ spokesman Judd Deere said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said those responsible for Sicknick’s death “must be brought to justice.’’

“The violent and deadly act of insurrection targeting the Capitol, our temple of American democracy, and its workers was a profound tragedy and stain on our nation’s history,’’ Pelosi said Friday. She ordered flags at the Capitol lowered to half-staff in Sicknick’s honor.

Pelosi said Thursday that any remaining day with the president in power could be “a horror show for America.” Likewise, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the attack on the Capitol was “an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president,” and Trump must not stay in office “one day” longer.

Pelosi and Schumer called for invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to force Trump from office before President-elect Joe

Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. Schumer said he and Pelosi tried to call Vice President Mike Pence early Thursday to discuss that option but were unable to connect with him.

At least one Republican lawmaker joined the effort. The procedure allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unfit for office. The vice president then becomes acting president.

Pelosi said if the president’s Cabinet does not swiftly act, the House may proceed to impeach Trump.

Two Republicans who led efforts to challenge the election results, Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, faced angry peers in the Senate. Cruz defended his objection to the election results as “the right thing to do” as he tried unsuccessfully to have Congress launch an investigation. In the House, Republican leaders Rep. Kevin Mccarthy of California and Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana joined in the failed effort to overturn Biden’s win by objecting to the Electoral College results.

With tensions high, the Capitol shuttered and lawmakers not scheduled to return until the inauguration, an uneasy feeling of stalemate settled over a main seat of national power as Trump remained holed up at the White House.