Comics I Don’t Understand

The Trend

Cidu Bill on Feb 28th 2009

Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Six Chix, comic strips, comics, humor | 29 responses so far

29 Responses to “The Trend”

Arthur Feb 28th 2009 at 12:23 am 1

I’ve seen those oval signs on cars and never knew what they meant. Now, I guess they denote where the car or driver came from. If you knew that before reading this comic, there’s some possibility the comic would strike you as funny, especially if you didn’t like those signs.
Mel Feb 28th 2009 at 01:13 am 2

I didn’t even notice the oval stickers. My guess was that it was a play on global warming. The devil is enjoying driving with the top down, but all the mortals are closed up with the AC running.
David N Feb 28th 2009 at 01:42 am 3

In Europe, cars have the sticker of their country on them. American soldiers even get a USA one. GB - Great Britain, F - France, CH - Switzerland, NL - Netherlands. Germany was D for Deutschland (and not DEU like the cartoon). I guess the Devil got HLL for his purple roadster.

Now that the driving history lesson is out of the way, I still don’t get the Trend. Americans don’t do the stickers on this side of the pond. But I smiled at the inside joke.
Lost in A**2 Feb 28th 2009 at 02:00 am 4

Americans do use the oval stickers, but for slightly different purposes.
As an example, I’ve seen OBX, usually with “Outer Banks” in fine print.
Eric Feb 28th 2009 at 03:20 am 5

It’s true. I have one that reads 1781, for the battle of Petersburg/Blandford in the American Revolution.

But I’m a history nerd.
yellojkt Feb 28th 2009 at 07:52 am 6

In the US the stickers are tourist souvenirs to brag about where you vacation.
Kara Feb 28th 2009 at 08:46 am 7

I have one like that with BSD on it for the computer OS. But I’m a nerd.
tofor Feb 28th 2009 at 10:36 am 8

I saw a car before the election where somebody had taken a whole bunch of those stickers and stacked them up so the the letters spelled out OBAMA
Rainey Feb 28th 2009 at 10:43 am 9

@Mel I don’t think that the devil has his top down on his vehicle because of the temperature. It is clearly not cold (there is grass and no snow), but there is no evidence that it is hot either (such as a blazing sun, cartoonish heat lines, desert sand or jungle plants). I think the reason Hillary Price (the cartoonist) drew the devil’s car without a top is to draw the readers’ attention to who the driver is. You could still see who the driver was otherwise but it would not be as easy with the top up.
Morris Keesan Feb 28th 2009 at 11:08 am 10

Americans definitely do the stickers. They’re very trendy. My impression is that they’re more of a “home-town pride” kind of thing, at least around here (Massachusetts). I see a lot of “ARL” stickers in Arlington, “MWV” in Mount Washington Valley, “MV” stickers for Martha’s Vineyard, “DOT” stickers in Dorchester, etc. It’s quite likely to be a regional thing that’s missed other parts of the country.
Mark in Boston Feb 28th 2009 at 01:10 pm 11

Drive like Hell. You’ll get there.
Pete Feb 28th 2009 at 02:34 pm 12

Needs must when the devil drives
meep Feb 28th 2009 at 03:38 pm 13

Oh yes, at least in the Northeast it’s trendy. I’ve got a NS sticker on my car (for North Salem)
David N Mar 1st 2009 at 03:31 am 14

Sorry, I know we have stickers here in the US - but it’s not mandatory like in Europe. There’d be HLL to pay if each state made everyone put a state sticker on each car bumper.
Powers Mar 1st 2009 at 10:42 am 15

Oh, you didn’t say they were mandatory.
Andrew Mar 1st 2009 at 11:06 am 16

I didn’t realise the stickers were mandatory for continental driving, but they’re the root of an old joke. A child sees his older brother putting L plates on the family car and asks what the L stands for. The brother replies that the L means he’s a learner. “Oh, I see.” replies the younger one. “Does the GB mean Getting Better?”
Mitch4 Mar 1st 2009 at 12:07 pm 17

Mr. Snail bought a nifty sports car and had the detailer put a great big letter “S” on either side. Now whenever he drives through town everybody exclaims “Look at that S-car go!”
Jordan Mar 1st 2009 at 05:53 pm 18

I thought “the trend” was “drive like the devil is on your tail”.
Todd Mar 1st 2009 at 05:56 pm 19

Why would we use stickers to identify which state we come from in America? The license plates already identify which state we’re from.
Soup Dragon Mar 1st 2009 at 06:39 pm 20

The GB car should have had the steering wheel on the right side - if it’s really from Old Blighty…
Jack Mar 1st 2009 at 07:11 pm 21

GWB

=Gee Whiz Beav
Cidu Bill Mar 1st 2009 at 08:14 pm 22

I had the same thought about European cars, Todd: They have license plates as well.
Mark in Boston Mar 1st 2009 at 10:04 pm 23

Yeah, well, when I drive in other states and other drivers see my Massachusetts plates they deliberately smash into me.
Cidu Bill Mar 1st 2009 at 10:24 pm 24

Mark, I’ve driven in Massachusetts, and I’m fairly sure they’re doing it in self-defense
Matthew Mar 1st 2009 at 11:56 pm 25

Yes, Mark, I grew up around Boston & learned to drive there, then moved away & became a decent & civil driver. The smashes may be yours.

Back to the cartoon: It’s satirizing both the place-ovals AND our trend toward compacts & hybrids. The devil doesn’t care about global warming (better stated as climate change), so he drives a big ol’ gas-guzzling convertible rather than an economical car.
The Ploughman Mar 2nd 2009 at 04:38 pm 26

In this area of the country, the only stickers I’ve really seen are for ski areas and resorts (Aspen, Park City, etc)
Lola Mar 2nd 2009 at 04:53 pm 27

There is one of these on my car (BNL) for Bare Naked Ladies. It was there when I got it as a hand-me-up from my daughter. Not that I’m not a fan, but I didn’t put it there, and since she’s a big fan I didn’t have to ask what it was about. I assumed that all the other stickers I saw on other cars were for bands too. Naturally, I haven’t been too successful in deciphering which bands. Now I know why.
Karlos Mar 3rd 2009 at 06:33 am 28

Lola — you’re not entirely wrong — Dave Matthews Band has “DMB” stickers like this.
Ian Osmond Mar 3rd 2009 at 12:22 pm 29

I see the oval stickers all the time — and, like the other Americans who commented on seeing those stickers all the time, I’m in Massachusetts.

So, given that Hillary Pierce is ALSO in Massachusetts, and they’re ubiquitous here, that makes sense.

They’re so common here that you she probably didn’t know that they’re not common elsewhere. Making it a CIDU for everyone without Massachusetts connections.