Bumper Sticker Revival?

[author: Martha Engel] 

Maybe it’s just me but recently I’ve noticed more and more vehicles with bumper stickers.  Driving to work reads like status updates in my “news feed” – children’s activities, political commentaries, workout statistics, trips, colleges, pets, restaurants visited…lots of personal information.  Maybe “likes” and “tweets” have made us more comfortable with PDAs (public disclosures of attitudes or achievements).

Absent from these sticky “likes”, however, are major brands.  The only major brands that I’ve ever seen appear on multiple cars are Apple and Browning.  People show off their presidential preference with Romney, Obama and Ron Paul stickers, but you don’t see any Diet Coke, Starbucks or Diet Mountain Dew stickers.   If they’ve got a “26.2″ sticker on their car, where’s the Nike swoosh for the shoes they wore to run it?  I’m not suggesting that people want their cars to fit in at a NASCAR race, but maybe marketers will find ways to tap into this revitalized comfort in PDAs.  To brand (in the traditional sense of the word) one’s car with your mark shows some serious brand loyalty.

What do you think about this trend?  What brands have you seen utilize this well?