A Study of Personalized Bumper Stickers in China and America—from the Perspectives of Functions

CHEN Ru-yun

【Abstract】Personalized bumper stickers are part of private cars in China and America. Their functions are diversified.The author tries to explore Chinese personalized bumper stickers （CPBS） and American personalized bumper stickers （APBS） from the perspectives of functions.

【Key words】Chinese personalized bumper stickers； American personalized bumper stickers； functions

To those car owners who were born in the 1980s， it is very fashionable to label stickers to the back of their cars. Therefore， 年齡60岁，驾龄60！ jumps into our sights when cars hurry off. Similarly， while enjoying American movies， you will spot the following stickers： “You like to tailgate. I like to shoot people. Everyone has their thing.”.More and more people begin to pay attention to the languages employed in the stickers.Even though many scholars did a lot in the research of the stickers， very few did study to find the cultural implicatures from the perspectives of functions.

1. Warning safety

Warning safety can be regarded as the elementary function， which is widely found in CPBS and APBS， such as 实习， 校车， 别吻我，我怕羞（修）， “Baby in car”and so on.

Zou （2013） pointed out that CPBS concerning safety warning could be illustrated from the following five aspects： driving skills， distance between vehicles， driving speed， condition of the vehicles and drivers morality.

More and more humorous CPBS can not only play the role of safety warning， but also put people in a relaxed， pleasant and humorous atmosphere such as 昨天领证，高兴ing and so on. But some stickers are causing displeasure， by employing aggressive and threatening languages. Drivers or passengers may easily be annoyed by the following stickers： 着急你就飞过去. Whereas APBS were used to remind drivers or passengers of safety such as “Baby on board”， “No drinking and No drugs”.

2. Showing personality

Wen （2011） pointed out that slogan of cars， as a kind of personalized bumper stickers intended to impose the users ideas on the target receivers and accordingly expected receivers feedback.

Owing to its convenience in usage， bumper stickers quickly become a new channel through which the awful emotions could pour. 我是新手，我怕谁 shows that the driver is fearless. In APBS all messages presented on the private motor vehicle could be interpreted as expressions of self-identity. The following personalized bumper stickers such as “I love cats”， “My child is an outstanding citizen at Belle Vue Middle School”and so on could be found in America everywhere.

3. Amusing others

Zhao and Yu （2011）stated that in the past， CPBS had the tendency to be practical but boring and dull but now they were amusing.

還追啊，我已经到家了shows that the driver is always in the lead and others cannot surpass him in order to amuse other drivers. “Beer： now cheaper than gasoline. So dont drive…drink” could be also found in the daily life. On many occasions， car owners do not want to express certain aims and they just regard them as a way of entertainment， hoping to add some fun to the long， dull and boring driving period. On most occasions， they intend to amuse others as well as themselves.

4. Advertising products

Charles （1992） found commercial products covered the second largest category of APBS.

In America， many private car owners were employed to help advertising agencies to advertise their products and get at least 500 dollars per month as a reward. But at the same time private car owners had to follow certain regulations， such as no drinking， no smoking， no littering， no swearing， always parking cars outside， ready to answer others inquiries， following the agreed driving routes and delivering samples. Employers and employees can easily achieve win-win situation. In China， similar CPBS could be seen such as 中国人民保险公司and 三一重机.

5. Expressing political issues

Every day vehicles shuttle back and forth in larger and smaller streets. It becomes a scenery line of city and at the same time， it becomes a new platform for people to express their personal opinions about political issues.

CPBS such as 93 号，别涨了！complained about political issues implicitly Wheares in APBS， such as “Remember 25 years ago when we had Ronald Regan， Bob Hope， Johnny Cash. Now we have Obama， No Hope， No Cash”， “On my way to work...Please kill me！” did sharply.

References：

[1]Charles，E.Case.Bumper stickers and car signs ideology and identity[J].The Journal of Popular Culture，1992，26：107—119.

[2]Wen，Can.A Study and Survey on the Slogan of Car—Take the Slogans of Car in Chongqing as an illustration[D].Unpublished MA thesis，University of Xiangtan.2011.

[3]Zou，Haiqing.Analysis of safety warnings in car stickers[J].Journal of Language and Literature Studies，2013，（5）：7-10.

[4]Zhao，Yan&Yu，Quanyou.Car stickers and social cultural psychology[J].Culture Journal，2011，（6）：112-115.