Last week, General Motors announced that a newly formed ad agency called Commonwealth, a joint venture between subsidiaries of Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group, will handle all of Chevy's worldwide advertising in a bid to cut $2 billion in marketing costs over the next five years, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. This marks a serious departure from the way Chevy, GM's largest-selling badge, previously marketed its vehicles worldwide, which involved 70 ad agencies around the globe.

The question being asked now is: Will the new agency keep the current "Chevy Runs Deep" tagline? General Motors marketing chief Joel Ewanick, as quoted in this story by Automotive News, says that "no decision has been made on 'Chevy Runs Deep,'" though the piece goes on to say a decision is expected by summer.

But hypothetical questions beg unsolicited advice, so here's mine: Drop it, and quick -- but not because it wasn't at least somewhat effective.

In fact, the tagline has grown on me. When it was first announced in 2010, it seemed intentionally opaque and needlessly posturing -- I said as much here -- sounding like a cross between frat-boy-style philosophy and a sexual euphemism (actually, those may be the same thing). That, however, was without the context of the ads themselves, which often targeted the brand's history. Like this:

In that context, the tagline made more sense. It was born on the heels of the 2008 bailouts, when there was still a great deal of anger at GM (and Chrysler) for taking the money. The tagline, in context, seemed to take the hangdog-boyfriend tack, playing an old mix tape and saying, "Hey, I know things are bad now, but let's don't forget the good times! I made the Corvette Sting Ray and the Chevelle SS and the C/10 Stepside! C'mon -- I've been around since Howard Taft was president! Things will get better -- you know they'll get better, baby!"

And, hey, that's all true, and that eventually clicked for me. Chevy needed to remind people what the brand has meant for the country, to remind people what that bailout money went toward saving. But it's time Chevy moves past that now. Chevy has an exciting model in the small-car race with the Sonic, and it has been pushing creative ads around that -- notably with the Super Bowl "Stunt Anthem" awesomeness -- as well as a competitive global model in its Cruze small sedan. Like those for the Sonic, the Cruze ads tend to be more forward-looking, enthusiasm-driven spots for which "Chevy Runs Deep" doesn't really fit.

In other words, "Runs Deep" has run dry, Chevy: It's time to tell us who you are now, and where you're going in the future.