10 replies to this topic

[Southron]

Alabama is getting a new main tag in January 2009.  The new tag features a beach scene and the phrase "Sweet Home Alabama" replaces "Stars Fell on Alabama."  The tag is supposed to complement the state tourism campaign that's using "Sweet Home Alabama" as its slogan.

Thoughts on this new tag or any other Alabama tags?

New state license plate unveiled

[elb401]

I'm not that fond of it. I mean only two counties in the entire state have beaches. Maybe something that represents more of the state. But, I like the more simple tags maybe with the name of county at the bottom and alabama at the top.

[kayman]

I think that 1) Get rid of the god-awful "Heart of Dixie" slogan altogether (for clearly reasons of stop associated Alabama with "Old South" notion), and put "The Yellowhammer State" which is the state's official slogan.  2) It's an alright design although I'm not head-over-heels fond of it.  3) I would much prefer if they would finally disregard the state's bizarre numbering scheme of counties (that doesn't make any real sense these days) and just put the county names on the plates.

[convulso]

bama, when you gonna learn? don't be what you ain't - just be what you is.

we is only partially sea oats and sand crabs, no matter how disproportionately huge a role the coast plays in our state's leisure economy.

to an outsider, is a beach tag really selling alabama well? or is there a whiff of desperation (perceived; not actual) when states try to leverage their one shekel's worth of glamour into a new, definitive, 'yup, that sums us up! when you think beach, you think bama!' - type of brand?

we could just as well pluck some other isolated & incongruously distinctive asset from the latest litter and elevate it to default-tag fame. maybe a tag festooned with little directors' chairs and camera dollies...since big fish, the sidewalk festival and the like signal 'bama's film-industry-beacon status to those quaint outsider luddite trogs who're still erroneously conditioned to think 'showbiz' and 'hollywood' in the same thought-reflex. NO! when you think showbiz, now you're thinkin' 'bama! where you should already know from the last tag campaign that the stars, they-dun-a-fellt on it!

same with rockets & huntsville
bottle-cap grottoes and cullman
asphalt-&-beer redneck woodstock love-ins and 'dega
the grotesque billboard caricature of Hern-ny Dee Soto and a cave near childersburg
geriatric pugilism and the electrifying capitol pageantry that frames each legislative session's closing days - a tale spun 'gainst an epic backdrop of lost causes doggedly championed; marionette-skeletor-pantomime battles staking gentlemen's honor vis defense of a dear sweet mother's name; the solemn aye-vote guess-who blindfold pay-raise ritual of the nameless Order of the inner sanctum; and the twilight minstrelsy of youtube, a day's-end campfire serenade to be played and played again at each request, retelling to near and far; now and in all times to come, the past days' tumult; its rush toward glory; of calfskin-soft fists against gold wire-rimmed glasses; indignant retorts; punch-drunk-addled collapses...

...the sky's the limit. come to think of it, why, - the sky...we got that; let's put that on a tag. montana can do it; what they gots that we ain't gots?

nah. just wish that - if alabama is gonna feature something real & distinctive in an effort to tag-brand our great state; to highlight its many seductions - that it would find a way to associate our familiar (if stereotypical) image - the one that most closely resembles an outsider's general expectation of what a deep-south state was and is - with whatever unexpected delight du jour we have for sale. to eschew that which represents the whole state only to favor some singular asset such as our coast might seem a little disingenuous to sojourners from the other 49 - to their minds, something along the lines of pigs & lipsticks, etc.

whatever great stuff - and i think it is great stuff - we have on offer in alabama, miss sippy, arky; what have you, is the kind that only endears its worth to outsiders when it's discovered - not hawked. hawking its assets to credulous yanks only makes a southern state look like the rodney dangerfield of the whole republic. trick them into discovering what's been here all along & you'll have done some real marketing. no one who isn't already convinced of the south's appeal can ever be convinced with a straight sell - that's our identity, and we need to own it. outsiders fall in love with places like this because of revelations & epiphanies: it's empowering, as a discerning leisured traveler, to be the discoverer of some secret beauty in our nation's dreary, unlarn't hinterland (or whatever BS disposition helps would-be yank pioneers to romanticize their little finds, and thereafter to favorably appraise their worth; to grant we heathern the faintest beatific smile of approval, blah blah ......)

damn; fell asleep in my grey field jacket...again...

right or wrong, some road-tripping family from monterey is likely to find a 'bama beach tag merely amusing, and perhaps a little shrill.

i dunno. the squirrels, with all the power lines - how? what do they know? not for us too, their wisdom?

[convulso]

and that 'sweet. home.' font is rockin'! it's got me feelin' emotions!

[Southron]

Convulso, you've outdone yourself this time.      I'm with you on the "sweet. home." -- nice branding.  We should keep that on our future tags.  I wish the state had come up with a tag that included the mountains, rivers, forests and the coast.  That still wouldn't nearly cover everything, but it would be a better representation of the under-appreciated natural beauty of our state.

As expected, some north Alabamans are disappointed that the plate doesn't include mountain scenery.  

State plates attract critics

[| BRAVO |]

I saw an actual plate this weekend.  The colors are not nearly as pronounced as in the above image.  

I like the tag.  It's a vast improvement over either of the existing... and I'm trying to not read too much into the "beach scene"

Edited by | BRAVO |, 07 January 2009 - 07:51 PM.

[HSVTiger]

As is common with many plates but even more so with this one is beyond 10' you can't even tell what the image is or the state name.
That's because when they are designed the person doing it is 2' away from the computer screen and is easy to see.

[| BRAVO |]

HSVTiger, on Feb 27 2009, 09:21 AM, said:

As is common with many plates but even more so with this one is beyond 10' you can't even tell what the image is or the state name.
That's because when they are designed the person doing it is 2' away from the computer screen and is easy to see.

Isn't that the point?  You should only be able to see the design when stopped in traffic or standing near the tag... otherwise it would be difficult to read the numbers at 75mph?

[Chris322]

I got my "Sweet Home Alabama" plate this week. It really is a nice looking plate when it is on your car. It looks a lot better than the "Stars Fell On Alabama" plates.

[kayman]

Chris322, on Mar 26 2009, 11:51 PM, said:

I got my "Sweet Home Alabama" plate this week. It really is a nice looking plate when it is on your car. It looks a lot better than the "Stars Fell On Alabama" plates.

Yeah, it truly is.  I'm suppose to get the new tag in July when my plate is up for renewal.  It give Alabama a distinct recognization that most people don't realize is here and that is its coastline.