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GMC doesn't care if it's Mt. McKinley or Denali

Tue, Sep 1 2015 GMC is getting a mountain of free publicity from President Obama's decision to rename the former Mt. McKinley back to Denali in Alaska. The truck-and-SUV brand is happy to see the moniker of its high-end trim in the news, but doesn't intend to change any marketing because of the switch.

"It had no impact or change on our strategy," a GMC spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press. The brand doesn't expect sales to change, though the frequent use of the word Denali in the news in a positive light amounts to free, albeit temporary, advertising for the company.

Denali is the word for the nation's tallest mountain in the Koyukon Athabascan language, and it means "the high one." In 1896 a prospector rechristened the peak Mt. McKinley to support presidential candidate William McKinley. He won the election, but was assassinated in 1901. The title stuck, and the site officially got the name when a national park was created there. Since then, there has been a push to return to the original moniker, and according to the Free Press, the park became Denali in 1980. Now, the peak has followed suit.

GMC started using Denali to denote the top models on the 1999 Yukon. Today, it's available as an upmarket alternative on most of the brand's lineup.

Related Video:

  • News Source: The Detroit Free Press
  • Image Credit: Copyright 2015 Jeremy Korzeniewski / AOL / GMC
  • Marketing/Advertising
  • Weird Car News
  • GMC
  • Truck
  • SUV
  • Luxury
  • gmc yukon
  • alaska
  • denali
  • gmc denali

By Chris Bruce


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