Two weeks ago, the Scene reported on a scrolling digital sign at a gas station, Lewis Country Store. The sign had apparently been scrolling pro-Trump and anti-Clinton messages for months, but its latest iteration had been brought to our attention by someone concerned about children seeing the language used: "Trump Just Said It. Bill Clinton Did It! The Only P*$$y Trump Ever Grabbed Was Paul Ryan! #TrumpThatB*tch."
Lewis Country Store is a Shell gas station, and we asked the oil company what they thought about their brand being associated a particularly nasty piece of political rhetoric. Shell responded, "The content of the message does not reflect the views or opinions of Shell and we are following up with this independently owned location to investigate further."
Well, Shell's investigation has apparently led the company to decide being associated with Lewis Country Store is not a good look. Shell spokesperson Natalie Mazey emails:
As mentioned previously, independent wholesalers must adhere to branding guidelines set forth in our licensing agreements. When there are violations, we ask that they are addressed. Continued violations could result in additional actions taken, including potential de-branding of the site. We can confirm that Lewis Country Store, located at Old Hickory Boulevard and Ashland City Highway in Northwest Davidson County, is no longer part of the Shell-branded network.
As one might imagine, the Lewis family is handling this really well, posting signs on their gas pumps that read, “Due to our refusal to remove our pro-Trump sign, Shell has de-branded us. We will not be threatened or intimidated. Our doors will remain open. Vote Trump on Nov. 8th so this does not happen to you!” They've also updated the digital sign to read, "Is Debranding Like Deleting? Never Forget Benghazi. All Deplorables Must Vote Nov8. #TrumpThatB*tch."
According to Fox17, the station is rapidly running out of gas and no longer has functioning credit card machines. But given the Lewis family's propensity for getting themselves out of scrapes over the years, we have no doubt they'll end up just fine.
