Mohawk Chevrolet's popular TikTok videos get cameo from GM CEO Mary Barra

Detroit Free Press

"When you take the 'Silve' out of Silverado, what do you have left? Everybody? Rado, Rado.... why do we not need Silver? Because silver does not equal gold. And the Silverado, is gold."

That's what self-proclaimed 'marketing genius' Grace Kerber from Mohawk Chevrolet tells a room of Chevrolet leaders at the General Motors Global Technical Center in Warren during a fake pitch to rebrand the Silverado.

The pitch is in the 11th episode, called 'Mohawk Goes to Corporate," of a video series Mohawk does that parodies the TV show "The Office," only Mohawk calls its series "The Dealership." The vignettes, which usually run a few minutes, poke fun at what it’s like to work at a car dealership and create marketing videos of Chevrolet vehicles.

GM CEO Mary Barra in a scene from a Mohawk Chevrolet parody video in which ‘The Dealership’ team comes to Detroit to make a pretend pitch to Barra and some Chevrolet leaders on rebranding one of Chevrolet's most iconic products, the Silverado pickup.

The vignettes are so popular that Mohawk has 144,000 followers on TikTok and its videos have gone viral, with one getting more than 3 million views on the site. Last month, the videos caught the eye of Chevrolet's social media team, which approached the dealership, located in Ballston Spa, New York — about 30 miles north of Albany — and invited the staff to Warren to film an episode, said Tara Kuhnen, GM spokesperson.

GM's social media team got CEO Mary Barra involved for a couple cameos along with Chevrolet's top bosses: Steve Majoros, Chevrolet's chief marketing officer, and Scott Bell, Chevrolet's vice president.

Majoros said GM wanted to be a part of the series because of the creativity from the Mohawk team.

"They found a formula that quickly gained significant notoriety while bringing our products in front of new audiences," Majoros told the Free Press in an email. "Chevrolet always looks for ways to connect people with our cars and trucks in authentic and memorable ways. 'The Dealership' is an excellent example of how to do that successfully."

Mohawk filmed the video at various locations at the Global Technical Center in Warren throughout the day last Thursday, Kuhnen said. One scene suggests the crew is entering the Renaissance Center to visit GM headquarters. Majoros said filming was a nice break from "the seriousness of our day-to-day" and a chance to "have a little bit of fun." He said the GM team is eager to see more episodes from Mohawk.

As for Barra, her first cameo in the nearly six-minute long video, happens at about the two-minute mark right before Kerber is about to give her big rebranding pitch. Kerber is waiting for the meeting and sitting in the cubicle marked with a name tag: "Mary Barra."

"Hey, uh, who are you?" Barra asks as she walks toward her desk where Kerber is sitting and spinning in Barra's chair.

"Who are you?" Kerber replies.

"I am Mary, and you are?" Barra retorts.

A scene from the Mohawk Chevrolet parody episode where the dealership pitches the idea of rebranding the Silverado to just Rado before Chevrolet leaders.

From there the two make an introduction and Barra then offers to find Kerber another place to sit because, "this is where I usually sit," Barra explains.

Kerber reluctantly gets up explaining she has a big meeting so, "you go right ahead ... chair" and gives a huff and a side glace of annoyance to the camera as she walks away from Barra.

At the end of the big pitch, Chevy leaders give a hard "ra-no" to Kerber's idea, but just then Barra happens by the conference room and sees the screen with the rebranding photo on it and says: "Rado. I think I like it."

"Maybe we're going to have to think about this one?" Majoros whispers to Bell, who agrees, then stares straight at the camera with an expression of mild contempt.

Mohawk Chevrolet's Grace Kerber gives a mock pitch to rebrand the Chevrolet Silverado in a scene from a video that parodies The Office.

Barra posted the episode, which she called "hilarious," on her LinkedIn page urging people to watch it.

"Last week, I met the Mohawk Chevrolet team, whose viral series 'The Dealership' brilliantly showcases Chevrolet in a fresh and entertaining way," Barra wrote on LinkedIn. "I’m continually impressed by our dealers' innovative approaches to highlighting General Motors' vehicle brands."

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Kerber said the group was "honored" to be invited to visit GM.

"We had an absolute blast making this episode, and even being so far from Mohawk we felt right at home with the corporate team," Kerber said in a statement. "Meeting Mary was such a cool experience, she was so kind and fun to shoot with, we loved that she wanted to be a part of the series!”

Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.