Advertising

Driving down the highway this morning I realized that so many of us use our vehicles as personal advertising.

If you read bumper stickers you will know who has elementary-school-aged children, who their favorite sports team is, where they went on their last vacation, and with what political party they identify. Vanity license plates take it to a new level, but sometimes they are just too cryptic -- can I buy a vowel? My least favorite is the back-window memorials. It really brings you down to see the eqivalent of headstone text staring back at you at a red light. But I do like the antenna toys. Some show no imagination whatsoever and stick with the commonplace tennis ball or flag, but my favorite here was Scooby Doo. I like what that tells you about the driver.

One that has become quite popular over the last several years is the fish . . . and of course it's comic parodies. I've never understood the fish. No, I understand the fish, I just don't understand WHY the fish. I'm sure there are other images that could more readily identify the driver as Christian. So why did they pick that? I've come to the conclusion that maybe it's the equivalent of the Masonic secret handshake - it was meant to be only recognizable to other Christians. But someone let the cat out of the bag.

Then there are the car stickers and paint jobs. I find big racing stripes to be hilarious. Come on, really, that little family wagon doesn't look any faster with racing stripes. And just because you have a "Racing Team" logo sticker on the side doesn't mean you're a racer or part of the team. Although I did see one this morning that took me aback. This driver didn't set his advertising sights too high or unbelievable - on the side of a very beat up hatchback was a square sticker that read "Pit Crew." Hmmm, maybe.