Yes, it would be nice if they were better designed…but my wife’s cousin is on the front lines, so we sport one proudly on her car. I think we got the best designed one i’ve seen…but they are all pretty hideous.

Another thought, maybe it was a psychological experiment to see how people would go about displaying them on their car…i’ve seen some pretty funny ones.

Vertical: I understand Side so type is readible: my choice

but the other ways the type is neither readible, nor is it in any sort of traditional position. Some people are just in too much of a hurry.

Anyways, we probably have better things to do than worry about it. Maybe we could design better ones…. ah ha!

I thought these were a good idea for people who don’t do ‘ugly,’ but rather, do ‘idea.’ But it got out of hand. Supporting our troops is great - I sure hope proceeds from every single ribbon sold go to send some smokes over there, though I doubt it.

Then I saw the brand deteriorate. Rapidly. Fighting breast cancer is great, too. I’m sure all of our lives have been touched by this disease. So I started seeing the ribbons again, this time in pink. Since you can only read these things at a stop light, my mind immediately jumped to “Support Breast Cancer.”

Oooooh shit. Idiots wouldn’t be so bad if they never did anything, but instead they’re diverting my patriotism to supporting breast cancer. I don’t want to support breast cancer, I want to defeat it! Then I started seeing ribbons for everything from POWs to Firefighters. All good causes (like my old boss used to say, “They’re ALL good causes - pick one”) but ultimately they have saturated the brand. Usurped it. The old yellow ribbon doesn’t spport our troops anymore. It’s only a matter of time before someone has a Wal-Mart ribbon on their car, advertising cheap groceries, vaguely reminding them that they may actually be driving their car in America, which “I think was in a war last yearﾖ”

Bennet, I just went to Design Observer. Nice plug. That could almost be misconstrued as one of those video poker ads/posts that pop up on this site from time to time. I also checked that Bierut’s post hit a lot of what I just talked about in mine - just better.

On my way back from lunch I saw a magnetic ribbon with little blue paw prints on it. Why? I assume this is for some kind of humane society thing, but it looks like it should say “Support our Blue’s Clues”.

Jake, Please don’t take offense to the questions I am going to ask. I really want to hear what you have to say about this. I am surprised that you tilt the ribbon on your car. Don’t you think people know what the ribbon says? The ribbons are everywhere and I assume that everyone knows what they say. If this is true, it would seem that the appropriate way to display a ribbon is vertical.

As to why people tip them backwards or practically upside down, I have no idea. Maybe they saw everyone tipping them on their side, but didn’t realize they were doing it because the ribbons were to big to fit on their car. Maybe the tilting has become a fashion statement, or more likely people just slap them on and don’t think about it.

This was an enjoyable read, everyone. I love the note about supporting breast cancer. And I do agree that most people read, not see persuasive bumper stickers and posters—text is usually more important than image. That’s not to say images never have impact. Text + Image just make a more specific message.

I have been noticing every which way ribbons for the last two weeks. At least 90% of the ribbons, even on vans and SUVs, have been slanted to make the text almost horizontal.

I think having a link to this page makes sense for what they are selling. The ribbons they are selling are designed better and most importantly a parody. “Support Our Ribbons” I’m sure these are going to offend more than a few.

I think the cross idea is a bit of a stretch. Some say that people tip them to be Jesus fish, but I still think they are mainly slanted so they will fit on a trunk and so the type will be horizontal.

I personally like many of the magnetic ribbons much better than the old bumper stickers that became old and peeled off, but were not reusable if you changed vehicles. Unfortunately it also makes them easy for other people to remove as well. While at work tonight a pink “Support a Cure” breast cancer awareness ribbon (I have a close friend that is a survivor) and a blue “Spay and Neuter” ribbon that was a limited issue from the animal shelter which I recently adopted my pets from were removed from my vehicle. It is not the cost of the ribbons that makes me angry but the fact that someone took something that was not theirs. “Petty” theft is becoming all to common and tolerated.