The Funniest Catchphrase on ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Started As A Parody of Every Single Truck Commercial

It’s probably for the best that Charlie Kelly would never be approved for financing on a brand new Ford F-150 — he doesn’t have the best track record with large vehicles and brake lines.

The American spirit can be summarized in three words, and they certainly are not “E Pluribus Unum.” I mean, imagine trying to sell a Chevy Silverado with Latin, for Christ’s sake. No, America is the land of “Rock, Flag and Eagle,” as described by the most illiterate wordsmith in the Birthplace of America. Back when Charlie decided that he would not be tread upon in the classic It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode “Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody’s Ass,” he psyched himself up with some inspiring patriotic imagery that culminated with him singing those three words with a throat full of liberty and an American flag wrapped around his special head. 

As Charlie Day explained to his co-stars Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton during an episode of The Always Sunny Podcast, Charlie’s psyche-up song that became a running gag on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and an iconic catchphrase among the show’s fans was based on the hyper-patriotic, shamelessly pandering truck commercials of 2006 that hit all the same notes that Charlie nailed when he went America all over everybody’s ass. 

“I feel like it’s a riff that like (David) Hornsby and I had where Hornsby and I would joke about truck commercials,” Day told Howerton when asked how he came up with the off-the-cuff patriotic pump-up song that became a beloved part of the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia lexicon, saying of the insane GMC Sierra ads of the time, “It seemed like they were just pumping out the most stereotypical American things. It was like eagles, and rocks, and, you know, flags.”

Anyone who watched TV during the Bush administration (or even right now, really) remembers how heavy rock guitar riffs, dudes with gravely voices and sweeping shots of construction sites at the Grand Canyon with Marines hauling logs from all-American oak trees were the signature sights and sounds of 0 percent APR financing on Toyota Tacomas now through the end of the year. Watching the Always Sunny scene today, it’s obvious that Charlie’s brain was smashing together about a dozen different commercials when he came to the thunderous refrain of “Rock, flag and eagle!”

But, as Day recalled, the best bit from that behind-the-scenes riff didn’t even make it into the episode. “Mary Elizabeth (Ellis) had a really funny one, too,” Day revealed on the podcast. “She used to joke that they would take it as far as, like, Jesus carrying the cross, and then all of the sudden a truck comes up and he throws the cross in the back of the truck to take himself up the hill, like, (rock voice), ‘Jeeeeesus drives a Ford!’”

That one would definitely convince Mac to lock in a 15-percent interest rate on a pre-owned Ram 1500, so long as that cross is good and bloody.