Division or Classification of Bumper Stickers

Division/Classification

Bumper stickers are everywhere. In rush hour traffic they stare drivers in the face, and they amuse shoppers on the way back to their cars in the mall parking lot. Bumper stickers are drivers' way of shouting out their psychological attitudes, their favorite jokes, or their political or religious values. However, with all the bumper stickers out there it can be helpful to divide them into different categories. Most bumper stickers fall into one of three main categories: humor, attitude, and importance. To be classified as humorous, a bumper sticker must be about an important subject but at the same time be clever or satirical. For example, "Evolution is Intelligent," "Let Go of My Ears," "Grace Happens," "Yes, I'm Evil But it's a Part of My Charm," and "If you Want Fur, Stop Shaving" are all top humorous bumper stickers. Bumper stickers that boldly declare the driver's attitude toward any given subject can be placed in the Attitude category. The top five examples of attitude bumper stickers include "Yes, I'm evil but its part of my charm," "If you want to wear fur, stop shaving," "You're a Republican, and that's sad," "Caution-Driver is Legally Blonde," and "Come to the Dark Side -- We have cookies!" Importance is the third main category of bumper stickers. A bumper sticker can be classified as important if it relates to pertinent political, scientific, or health-related issues. Some of the top examples of important bumper stickers include: "Evolution Is Intelligent," "You're a Republican, and that's sad," "Grace Happens," "Let go of my ears," and "Caution-Driver is Legally Blonde." The top bumper stickers in these three categories include "Evolution is Intelligent," "Yes, I'm Evil but it's Part of My Charm," and "You're a Republican and that's Sad!" because they exemplify their particular category.

Each of the three bumper sticker classifications has criteria for membership. Humorous bumper stickers must fulfill the following criteria: they must be satirical or paradoxical, and they must also be about a topic that most people are familiar with. A bumper sticker that no one understands cannot be funny; a bumper sticker about a familiar topic that is not witty also cannot be classified as humorous. Second, bumper stickers that reveal the driver's attitude can also be funny but to be classified as attitude bumper stickers, they must also be about topics that overtly reveal the driver's attitude toward a certain subject such as politics or religion. Finally, important bumper stickers can also be funny and can reveal the driver's attitude. However, in order to be placed in the importance category, the bumper sticker must be about a highly relevant topic and not something that is trivial.

Humorous bumper stickers make most people laugh because not only are they witty but they also refer to familiar subjects. For example, the top humorous bumper sticker is "Evolution is Intelligent" because the sticker pokes fun of both evolution and intelligent design, fusing both concepts into one clever slogan. The slogan "Evolution is Intelligent" is also about a topic that is recently in the news and is therefore familiar as well as funny to most people who read it. "Let Go of My Ears," is the second-best humorous bumper sticker because it is a witty way of saying "Stop Tailgating Me!" Tailgating is an issue that all drivers deal with, so the message is both funny and meaningful. Third, "Grace Happens" is a humorous bumper sticker for a similar reason as "Evolution is Intelligent." "Grace Happens" is a satire of "S&*^ Happens," which is also a common bumper sticker. However, "Grace Happens" refers to the Christian religion, making it a relevant topic for most people. "Yes, I'm Evil But it's a Part of My Charm" is a humorous bumper sticker because it cleverly makes fun of a deeply relevant philosophical issue. "If you Want Fur, Stop Shaving" is a humorous bumper sticker because the message refers to animal rights in a farcical way rather than simply stating something like "Fur is Murder!" which would not be humorous.

Bumper stickers like "Yes, I'm evil but its part of my charm," "If you want to wear fur, stop shaving," "You're a Republican, and that's sad," "Caution-Driver is Legally Blonde," and "Come to the Dark Side -- We have cookies!" are all attitude stickers. To be classified as an attitude bumper sticker, the slogan must reveal something about the driver's stance on any given subject. The slogan can be personal or universal in scope. For example, "Yes I'm evil but it's part of my charm" reveals that the driver has a sense of humor and probably likes to party and have fun. "If you want to wear fur, stop shaving" shows that the driver is concerned about animal rights. "You're a Republican and that's sad" shows that the driver is a political liberal. The sticker "Caution -- Driver is Legally Blonde" probably indicates that the driver is has blonde hair and doesn't mind "dumb blonde" jokes. Finally, "Come to the Dark Side -- We have cookies!" reveals the driver's irreverent attitude toward the nature of good and evil.

Important bumper stickers are those that refer to a key political, scientific, or health-related issue. The top five examples of important bumper stickers include: "Evolution Is Intelligent," "You're a Republican, and that's sad," "Grace Happens," "Let go of my ears," and "Caution-Driver is Legally Blonde." The slogan "Evolution is Intelligent" refers to the debate between evolution and intelligent design and even offers a mediating solution. "You're a Republican and that's sad" refers to one of the two political parties in the United States and is therefore highly relevant. "Grace Happens" refers to the Christian religion, while "Let Go of My Ears" refers to dangerous driving, which can lead to accidents and is therefore important. Finally, "Caution -- Driver is Legally Blonde" is important because of its referring to a commonly-held stereotype about people with blonde hair.