Sticker Shock

Ever since I got to college, I have always had a 'Purdue' sticker somewhere on my car. I wanted to let others know where I went....and it was a nice change, in New Jersey, from the other college stickers that seemed to always show up: Penn State, Syracuse, Penn, Rutgers, Delaware, etc. Now that I have been out of school for a few years, I still like having my Purdue stickers (there are two now) on the back of the car....lets people know where I went since my 'Purdue University Alumni' license plate holder is barely legible.
I always notice other people's car stickers cause I'm always on the lookout for fellow Purdue grads. It's fun - like car bingo. I would have had bingo multiple times over for Maryland, UVA, VaTech, Penn State, GW, and Georgetown. But rear automobile windows are no longer only populated with college stickers.
There are a lot of 'oval' stickers - the white ovals with the black, abbreviated lettering of a prime destination. The first one that I ever saw was 'OBX' or Outer Banks. That's a cool one because the 'X' makes up for the 'ks' in 'Banks' - like when you get a sassy waitress that writes 'Thanx' on your receipt. Another cool one that I saw was 'HHI' or Hilton Head Island, where the 'I' was actually a red/white lighthouse. These oval stickers also come in countries - the one that comes to mind immediately is 'IRE' where I think it's black, green, orange and italicized...for Ireland. But I have seen quite a few oval stickers more recently boasting some college acronyms - 'UVA' or 'PS' (Penn State). I don't like those...maybe it's the fact that my alma mater should never have an oval of it's acronym - 'PU' - who wants that on the back of their car?
There is the bumper sticker that is making it's way onto the body of the car and more away from the bumper. Lots of political statements. Every now and then, you find a funny one. And there are a lot of 'My child was an honor roll student at (fill in school name here).' You're going to have the car for more than one year, I'm assuming. What happens when your kid decides he doesn't want to be so knowledgeable and doesn't make the honor roll the following semester/year? Do you take off the sticker and hang your head in shame or do you leave it on the car and become a poser living on the glory of that one great semester until he gets his head out of his ass and makes the honor roll again? -OR- What if three years have gone by and your honor roll student is now a slacker in high school....what to do, what to do?
In the past two weeks, I've seen a few cars boasting their sorority letters. I'm thinking, 'Interns' or 'new grad.' None of the sorority girls I know have their Greek letters on their cars.
I'm actually a big fan of the magnets - I have a Purdue train magnet. But there are now a ton of other magnets making their way out there. Best example - the ribbon magnet. Aside from the original yellow and flag ribbons to support our troops and let other drivers in America know that you're 'Proud to Be an American,' you will see a ribbon magnet for just about every cause known to man. I can even go online and design my own ribbon and put some words on there and slap it on my car for my own purposes....hmmmm....I smell 'morning cupcake' magnets!
All I'm saying is that the car sticker/magnets have evolved from what we saw back in the day....not only is it just colleges and Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) peeing, it's like a big marketing campaign...your car is your billboard and the stickers are your campaign. Is it too much?