Nah, once it's out there people can do whatever they want with it, in the same way that once "xerox" became a common word, it wouldn't matter if Xerox Corp. came and said "hey btw it's pronounced as ZEROZ".
Names for things get lives of their own.
Similarly, I don't think it merits looking at similar words for the "proper" pronounciation. If anything, it makes sense to look at expanded acronym (Graphics Interchange Format) which still points at the hard G (unless it's Jraphics Interchange Format :)). But hearing it from whoever coined the term is definitely similarly applicable.
Still, I would reiterate, names for things that get wide adoption get their own lives, and we'd face an uphill battle to stop people from using them how they want. As long as we can understand each other, we are golden. And when we can't, it's not that hard to get back on the same page.
This. I first learned what the acronym came from and assumed the G was a hard G from Graphics. I just assume anyone who pronounces it with a hard G learned it on their own.
Well, I guess you can say it how you want, but it still seems disrespectful to insist that majority rules over the inventor's wishes.
If you get a majority of people to say "zzleeper" is actually pronounced "crap bag", then majority rule wins, right, and you must acknowledge people when they call out "crap bag"?
I just don't really see how majority rule should follow. I'm also curious to what extent we allow this to function. Is it just limited to names?