Abstract
This study has set out to investigate bumper stickers in Jordan focusing mainly on the themes of the stickers. The study hypothesized that bumper stickers in Jordan reflect a wide range of topics including social, economic, and political. Due to being the first study of this phenomenon, the study has adopted content-based analysis to determine the basic topics. The study has found that the purpose of most bumper sticker is fun and humor; most of them are not serious and do not carry any biting messages. They do not present any criticism to the most dominant problems at the level of society including racism, nepotism, anti-feminism, inflation, high taxes, and refugees. Another finding is that politics is still a taboo; no political bumper stickers were found in Jordan. Finally, the themes the stickers targeted are: lessons of life 28.85 %; challenging or warning other drivers 16%; funny notes about social issues 12%; religious sayings 8%; treating the car as a female 7%; the low economic status of the driver 6%; love and treachery 5.5%; the prestigious status of the car 5%; envy 4%; nicknames for the car or the driver 4%; irony 3 %; and English sayings 1.5 %. Keywords : bumper stickers, themes, politics
Highlights
The wide spread of vehicles in general and cars in specific has led to a great extent of freedom considered unprecedented in its conventions and manifestations
The second major observation is that, unlike what is common in Israel or the United States, no political stickers whatsoever whether supporting or criticizing appear on Jordanian cars
Jordan is a democratic country, and the government encourages the establishment of parties, and encourages young people to get involved in political life through joining parties, no political stickers were observed
Summary
The wide spread of vehicles in general and cars in specific has led to a great extent of freedom considered unprecedented in its conventions and manifestations. Cars have enabled people to move from one place to another and freely, and they have given people the ability to reach destinations that were considered unreachable in the past. Cars are generally speaking considered valuable properties; a fact which makes them territories permissible to owners but forbidden to others. Cars are considered an extension of the self and a reflection of one’s personality, preferences and attitudes. Carowners write famous sayings, such as proverbs or wise sayings that - they believe - reflect their experiences in life. These statements or sentences are usually written on bumpers, the name bumper stickers. Chiluwa (2008) says that stickers can appear on other vehicles and on other places; a fact which explains his use of the term vehicle stickers
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