Friday May 14, 2004

LICENSE TO ILL

A few years ago, my home state of Kentucky adopted what is believed to be the worst, most saccharine license plate design of The Automotive Era. The universally loathed tag features a rising sun with a smiley face that looks like something you might stamp on sheets of Teletubbies-inspired LSD. In any case, the design is so hideous, many Kentuckians are opting to go with so-called “special issue” plates — most of which carry some sort of baggage, conveying an interest in horses, opposition to the victimization of children or a love of nature. The Advertising Federation of Louisville — apparently a voice of common sense in the Bluegrass State — has set out to come up with a license plate that, you know, looks good. They’ve narrowed it down to five and are holding an online poll to determine which one to back as a special issue plate. I think the fifth candidate in the poll — a geometrical rendering of horses hooves and their shadows in four bold colors — is killer.