Bumper Stickers - Messages on Wheels
I'm convinced that the world has two kinds of people:
1. Those who slap bumper stickers on their vehicles
2. Those who don't.
I grew up in a family that traveled every summer by car. We criss-crossed the U.S. for two weeks every August, and at every stop, I'd see bumper stickers and stickers advertising popular tourist traps. To stick anything on our car would be akin to spray-painting a slogan across our garage door; it was unthinkable.
To this day, I don't have a single bumper sticker, but I do have a thick file folder filled with slogans I've collected for the past 25 years. Welcome to Bumper Sticker Central, where I'll share some of the wittiest, weirdest, and dumbest bumper stickers around.
Take THAT, World!
Bumper stickers are a good way to shake your fist at the world. Having a rotten day? Why suffer in silence? Let your fellow drivers know how miserably distracted you are. It's one way to lift the morale of fellow travelers, plus it's a great alternative to thumbing your nose at the guy in the little red sportscar.
Bumper stickers at Zazzle:
Put on Your Thinking Cap
Write a bumper sticker you'd like to see...
G-rated only, please.
Congratulations!
Judging from the way you drive, I didn't realize y more...0 points
My Parents Went to Hawaii
...but I still had to buy my own bumper sticker.0 points
"Bumper sticker sighting: 11/12/08: Never ask a barber if he thinks you need a haircut."
Bumper Sticker for Adventurers
a message that left me wondering...
I was waiting in line at a red light...a very slow red light, during rush hour.Ahead of me sat a car driven by a little old lady who was using her delay to primp in her rearview mirror.
My eyes landed on her bumper, which displayed a sticker that made me want to know more about her life:
A wanderer is not necessarily lost.
Bumper Stickers in the News
- U.S. Election stickers
- You have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat the bumper sticker merchants to the draw. The bumper sticker is the front line in any US election campaign, as well as in the Left/Right war of attrition that is the normal state of affairs in the intervals between presidential and congressional contests.
- Obama sticker
- You can't please everyone...Ah, the beauty of free speech!
- Pointing the finger
- The blame game on wheels...
- Comedians for McCain/Palin
- Infusing laughter into a rocky campaign...
If You Were in a Wagon Train...
What would your bumper sticker say?
Imagine yourself as a U.S. pioneer heading west by covered wagon. What would your bumper sticker say?
Bumper Stickers a la Amazon
Bumper Stickers - Who Writes Them?
Keep It Short 'n Sweet, Stupid!
Are you up to the challenge?How many times have you been sitting in traffic, reading the bumpers sticker of the guy ahead of you, and thought, "I could come up with something better than that."
Well, Mike Thomas must've thought the same thing. He did something about it. Read his Associated Content article on how to get started in bumper sticker writing.
What can writers learn from studying bumper stickers? The most obvious, of course, is delivering a statement that impacts in very few words. When I wrote my first children's book, my publisher kept sending back pages, with a message to "write tight"--compact each thought into fewer words. Up until that point, I'd written magazine articles for the general market. Writing for children doesn't mean writing down to them; it means expressing a thought in condensed form, without losing its message. a/www.thefreelibrary.com/What+writers+can+learn+from+bumper+stickers:+believe+it+or+not,+those...-a081827169" target="new">Bumper sticker writers use the same "write tight" approach.
Bumper Stickers make the strangest statements!. Here's one sighted by a photographer, who couldn't resist taking a picture. Why anyone would stick that message on their truck is beyond me.
Make your momma proud! The Knoxville News Sentinel published a piece about an organization called Call My Mom. It's a unique safety-promotion idea that seems to be catching on.
Bumper Sticker Books @Amazon
When You Hit Rock-Bottom...
...might as well make a statement
I can't help but wonder what goes through the mind of someone who's out shopping for a bumper sticker. It takes time to shop and choose just the right one. Takes time to affix it in just the right spot.
But why THAT topic? Why not something else?
Does a bumper sticker reflect a current disappointment? Ongoing struggle? Sometimes I've found myself sitting at a red light, praying for the person in the car ahead of me.
A bumper sticker like this one strikes me as sad.
History of Bumper Stickers
Betcha didn't know...
I had no idea that bumper stickers date back to the 1927, when cars were manufactured with bumpers. They weren't stuck onto the bumper, though, but hung by wires.
Read more about the history of these moving statements (no pun intended) at the links below.
- When it all began
- Everyone had an opinion, it seems.
- Early Bumper Stickers
- A graduate student discusses the history of bumper stickers
- History of Bumper Stickers
- Did you know, the first bumper stickers were made of cardboard and metal?
- Political Bumper Stickers
- A history of self-expression and politics
No Topic's Off Limits
Bumper stickers remind me of the conversations you sometimes overhear in the grocery store or in a line at the bank. Snippets of personal info that are best left unsaid or at least mentioned in a more private setting.
Sometimes they appear to be personal, but aren't. Using a recognizable theme, bumper sticker messages often add a twist that leaves 'em talking...or laughing.
Bumper Sticker Sightings
What's YOURS?
Here's your chance to report a bumper sticker that grabbed your attention. Add to the list below.
Don't forget to scan the list and VOTE for your favorites!
Leave a Footprint!
Thanks for stopping by!
mulberry wrote...
Enjoyed your lens. I know a bumper sticker is good when I see one I absolutely don't agree with but I laugh and have to admit it's clever anyway.
Posted March 26, 2009
C-Joy wrote...
I don't have bumper stickers on my car, but I love reading others when I'm on the road! And I'm certainly no stranger to being inspired by bumper stickers:)
Posted February 21, 2009
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Boomerang!
a handy index for this lens
- Take THAT, World!
- Put on Your Thinking Cap
- Bumper Sticker for Adventurers
- Bumper Stickers in the News
- If You Were in a Wagon Train...
- Bumper Stickers a la Amazon
- Bumper Stickers - Who Writes Them?
- Bumper Sticker Books @Amazon
- When You Hit Rock-Bottom...
- History of Bumper Stickers
- No Topic's Off Limits
- Bumper Sticker Sightings
- Leave a Footprint!
- Grab my RSS Feed
- Follow Me @Twitter
by seedplanter
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Wife. Mom. Grandmother. Writer. Photographer. Product reviewer. Jewelry designer. Zazzler. Giant Squid. Blogger. Human Bean of the creative...
