Vanity License Plate: Difference between revisions

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For obscenely rich characters, '[Name of character] 1', '2', '3', and so on is also popular, as it gives the character a chance to bring attention to the fact that he has ''several'' cars, and has to keep them numbered to keep track of them. Any character with such a plate can generally be assumed to be a total dick.

Of course, this trope is often [[Truth in Television]]. It inspired Wink Martindale to create the [[Game Show]] ''[[Bumper Stumpers]]'' for the [[USA Network]]. This trope is not to be confused with [[Vanity Plate]], which was named after the same real-world phenomenon.

Of course, this trope is often [[Truth in Television]]. It inspired Wink Martindale to create the [[Game Show]] ''[[Bumper Stumpers]]'' for the [[USA Network]]. This trope is not to be confused with [[Vanity Plate]], which was named after the same real-world phenomenon. There are also vanity telephone numbers (where the subscriber requests an easy-to-remember pattern or phoneword for use in a [[Phone Number Jingle]]) and "vanity" forms of other identifiers (such as short/distinctive amateur and broadcast radio callsigns); the term "vanity" is an implicit analogy to vanity plating on personalised vehicles.

Different cultural reactions to these kinds of plates come from how much they cost. In the USA, this is seen as "mostly harmless" (if a mite gauche) since most vanity plates cost within the range of $25 to $50 extra (with extreme ends of $10 in Virginia and $100 in Minnesota). One of the reasons ''[[Top Gear]]'' et al. are so dismissive of vanity license plates is that they cost more than 10 times as much across the pond. Not only are you an attention-seeking bore, but you also have more money than is good for you.