Mack Trucks Inc. is playing a lead role in State Farm’s “Agents on a Mission” tour for “Cars 2 “– the action-packed international adventure from Disney•Pixar that hits theaters June 24. The company has provided a new Mack Pinnacle Axle Back Sleeper model that’s pulling a specially-wrapped trailer with a special load from event to event throughout the United States. In the trailer are life-size models of three of the main characters – Lightning McQueen, Mater and, new to “Cars 2,” British super spy Finn McMissile – each roughly 15 feet long, about seven feet high and weighing between 1,760 and 2,700 pounds.
In the new film, star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. The character based on a Mack truck – appropriately named Mack (voice of John Ratzenberger) – is Lightning McQueen’s trusted long-haul driver. After he drops Lightning off in Radiator Springs with his fourth Piston Cup championship trophy, Mack sets off with the rest of the pit crew for a well-deserved vacation.
The State Farm “Agents on a Mission” tour, which kicked off March 10 at the Minneapolis Auto Show, hits Los Angeles for the film’s red-carpet premiere on June 18, and wraps up in Northern California in late June. Mack also provided a truck for the tour promoting the 2006 release of Disney•Pixar’s “Cars.”
“We think the fact that it’s once again a Mack truck leading the way speaks to the strength of our iconic American Brand,” says Kevin Flaherty, Mack senior vice president, U.S. and Canada. “The trucks we’re building today are the cleanest in the world in terms of emissions. And they all come out of our plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania. We think the fact that every truck we sell in the U.S. is built in the U.S. resonates today more than ever.”
