Concrete trucks set to salute other countries
Metro Ready Mix Concrete, whose Nashville trucks have for years been emblazoned with the defensively patriotic slogan, “Hey, America! We believe in you,” plans to offer transcontinental affirmations as well.
Beginning next week, the company’s trucks will begin using other slogans, including “Canada! You are so special,” “We believe in Belize, you betcha,” and “Way to go, Thailand.”
Longtime observers of the concrete-truck patriotic slogan scene view the change as a sign of a growing multinational emphasis in business. “This is big,” says Borden Harden, who, as proprietor of a Joelton Phillips 66 station in 1979, was one of the first business owners in the area to install a magnet sign in front of his business courageously standing up for the U.S. in the face of the Iran hostage crisis.
“When I put up my, ‘America, we are behind you’ ” sign, I knew that I was doing my part to stand up to the Ayatollah. In the same way, I know our country has taken heart over the years knowing that Metro Ready Mix Concrete was firmly in its corner.”
Reached yesterday at its home on the North American continent, America had no comment about the slogan changes at Metro Ready Mix. Officials at the concrete concern also were unwilling to speak on the record about the new messages, but emphasized privately that the inclusion of slogans in support of other countries in no way diminishes the company’s support for the U.S.
“We’re not saying anything bad about America,” one company source says. “We’re just pointing out the universality of concrete. Wherever you go in the world, concrete is being poured at a record rate, and from a Brentwood subdivision to a Brazilian rain forest, concrete is a constant. We’re just taking pride in that."
