Utahns show off their creativity through vanity license plate phrases.
Small Lake City
By Bryant Heath
To an outside observer, Utah has a strong reputation of being a dry monoculture. But when you peel back the "ah shucks" layers, you'll find exceptional creativity abounds.
Baby names—the Maylees, the Lakynns and the Raidens of the world—are probably the most well-known example, followed by the seemingly endless permutations of soda flavors. But where I find Utahns showcasing their most creative selves is through vanity license plates.
Maybe residents feel the need to spice up the lettering because the standard plates themselves are a little, well, underwhelming. The iconic "Ski Utah!" plate of the past has morphed into a busy mess while the "In God We Trust" is typical fodder for a particular audience but stylistically dull. Unquestionably, the "Life Elevated" option featuring Delicate Arch is the best of the bunch, but I find myself thinking that the Red Rock iconography is starting to get a little played out.
A quick trip down I-15 shows that it's obvious Utahns crave other options to these drab defaults, and there are a couple of ways to do it. The DMV offers 70 special group plates, which highlight organizations and causes across the spectrum, while vanity lettering is only constrained by your imagination and the letter count (7).
But real creatives choose to do both and their medium of choice has been the recently legalized black-and-white license plates, which have been seizing market share at a breakneck pace that would make any Silicon Valley VC salivate.
Yes, there are some duds in the Black & White bunch (MCCOOL, HOTTIE, JOYRYD) but as a whole I find myself chuckling at the cleverness of how people showcase their personality in such a small space. Personal favorites that I've seen include the uber-fans (JEDIGRL, PKEMNGO), the jokesters (UPDAWG, LUCIFER), and the truly randoms (ON1GIRI, FATMIKE, A D H D).
As for me, I opted for a different route, purchasing the newly issued Great Salt Lake plate that was spearheaded by Democratic Sen. Jen Plumb, which recently passed the required 500 sign-ups to be printed. Unfortunately, my lettering of choice was already taken. Like these vanity plates, "WHALE" also seems to be exceptionally popular at this time, too.
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