As writer Charles W. McFarlane pointed out, gone are the days of earnest "Coexist" or "Free Tibet" bumper stickers. Nowadays, most are dipped in irony and sprinkled with absurdity.
These new bumper stickers are part of a growing trend of merchandise made as much to be photographed and shared on social media as they are to be absorbed in the real world.
"We're known as the bumper sticker couple now, I’m sure," Brian Gebhart, 32, who, along with his fiancée, Alyssa Walker, 30, runs Frog Mustard—an unhinged sticker and magnet shop—told McFarlane in an interview. They release a handful of new ones each week.
Brian and Alyssa started the company last winter, after he had a mountain biking accident and needed extra money to pay for surgery. They came up with Frog Mustard — a phrase as nonsensical as many of their designs — using a random name generator.
Their shop currently averages around 1,200 orders a month with a stock of about 350 designs, with such hits as: "On my way to get a lobotomy," "I'm pro-sexualizing the green M&M and I vote!" and "Deny, Defend, Depose" (a reference to Luigi Mangione and UnitedHealthcare). The couple describe their selection as "brain rot stickers."
In American culture, where cars are often seen as physical extensions of their owner's personality, bumper stickers have long been a way to customize vehicles, highlighting your political stance and interests. In many ways, they have been our real-life memes. Nowadays, there's even a good chance that you will see a photo on the street that was once shared on X or Instagram.
A survey found that American women are more likely than men to have a bumper sticker, by 63 percent to 50 percent.
Southerners are the biggest fans, with more than two out of three slapping at least one on their car in Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, according to a study conducted by Cheap Car Insurance, a Utah-based comparative services company.
Drivers in the Great Lakes region were the least likely to sport bumper stickers at about 49 percent.
Pro-gun stickers garnered the most negative responses from respondents, with 74 percent thinking that someone who has one must be ignorant, obnoxious, or aggressive.
Bumper stickers that drew the most positive or neutral responses were those that paid tribute to U.S. troops — 51 percent saw it as an expression of opinion or pride, 28 percent thought it was normal or reasonable, and another 9 percent thought it was smart and considerate to display such a design.
