Pumped up like only local car dealers can get, the braintrust of Jeep salesmen in the greater Toledo area came up with their own spin on Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" tagline: "Imported from Toledo." But now Chrysler wants to spike it.
Jeep dealer Ralph Mahalak, Jr., announced last week that he would print up 600 of the "Imported from Toledo" T-shirts and sell them for $19.41 each as a promotion for 2011 models. Other Wrangler enthusiasts also arranged for a Toledo-built Wrangler with the slogan to appear at a Toledo Walleye minor-league hockey game.
But Chrysler has come down on Mahalak and others, saying tinkering with "Imported From Detroit" is verboten. As its lawsuit against Pure Detroit showed, Chrysler is being aggressive about defending the copyright of its most popular slogan in years — even if it means hurting the feelings of some of their own dealerships. Thanks Bob!