How much do you love tofu? If you’re a big fan of the soy product, you may want to tell the world…but don’t plan on a license plate.
Do you love tofu enough to pay for a personalized license plate proclaiming that love? Please don’t say that you do. I mean, come on, I love a good ribeye, but I wouldn’t pay for a license plate to advertise my love of beef!
The state of Maine is the latest state to deny such a request.
First things first: What, exactly, is tofu? Wikipedia tells us its a food product made from soy bean curd. It further provides this charming description:
Tofu is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness.
It is often used as a substitute for meat, which seals its deal with me.
DMVs don’t love tofu…at least not on license plates
The Department of Motor Vehicles notified a driver in the town of Poland, Maine, that he’d have to surrender his pro-tofu license plates. The plate read “LUVTOFU.”
If your mind isn’t in the gutter, you may not see the harm. If you can temporarily place it there for a moment, you may be able to see the obvious problem.
Sure, you could interpret “LUVTOFU” as an endorsement of soy. But you could also interpret it as a vulgarity suggesting that the driver would “love to f*** you.” Those crazy kids and their obscenities.
The driver said he’s just a vegan and wanted to promote his vegan lifestyle. But erring on the side of decency apparently nixed his plan.
It isn’t the first time a state DMV rejected a license plate based on “tofu love.”
Back in 2014, the state of Tennessee denied a similar application from a vegan PETA employee. She wanted a license plate that read, “ILVTOFU.” Same concern. Same potential misunderstanding.
In 2009, Colorado didn’t see the humor in an even earlier attempt at a pro-toku plate. It denied a plate with the same “ILVTOFU” message for the same reason. NBC News reported that the state’s DMV said that even if the plate only referred to the food product, it could still be too easily misunderstood.
The Maine case isn’t even the first instance this year. In January, Texas rejected a “LVTOFU” plate. PETA sent out a news release on that one.
Maybe tofu lovers should take the hint. Some things just don’t belong on a license plate.
If you just have to promote a specific food — or food alternative — on your car, they still make bumper stickers.
I just wish more people would focus on what they do behind the wheel, not the steel plate on their back bumper. Our roads would be a lot safer that way, whether you eat meat or not.
