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Car stickers are real sticking point

14 Feb, 2012 09:50 AM
They are the ideal family: dad with his washboard stomach and biceps and mum in her power suit, at the computer as always, getting things done.

Their trim children won't be found slumped senseless in front of the TV but are out and active - the boy on his bike and his cute little sister in ballet mode.

There is old Tucker the dog, with his frisbee at the ready, and the two chooks, Nelly and Blackie.

They are simple, clean-cut, ever-smiling and, together, worth $23.50 plus postage.

Theirs is one of hundreds of thousands of sticker families driving consumerism and rage in similar measure from the rear windows of cars across Australia and overseas.

The Sticker Family have made their Queensland creators rich, but their ability to inflame passions has been well documented online, where dedicated social networking pages run thick with the spray of people who consider them "self-indulgent", "smug", "unoriginal" and "pretentious".

The cynicism has also spilled over into the real world, as with the case of a Wollongong woman in court last month for destroying property.

She had been fuelled by a drunken "deep and meaningful" about her own family before police caught her tearing the little stick figures off a stranger's car, she told the magistrate, who ordered her to pay $20 compensation.

The hate has spawned a crowded market of "alternative family" stickers, including Stuff Your Family (stick figures being mowed down by a truck); Making My Family (mum and dad stick figures getting busy); the controversial F*@! Your Family (sticks in nooses); The Ass Family (Wise, Smart, Lazy, Kiss and Dumb) and the vulgar Creepy Uncle line, which has characters including The Footy Bogan, The Cougar, The Knocked Up Teen, The Deadbeat Dad and The Alcoholic Mum, aimed at "mess(ing) with those damn perfect families out there", according to their creators.

That stickers could provoke such depth of feeling speaks to their faddishness, for surely much of the irritation comes from simply seeing them again and again.

Wollongong psychologist Dr Mitchell Byrne believes there may also be an element who "don't feel comfortable with their own family [and are] having it shoved in their face" and that a "marginal increase" in narcissism could be contributing to sales.

But he said the truly irate were "taking it far too seriously" and the stickers were ultimately harmless fun. Rear car windows have long been a popular canvas for people to spell out their connections and allegiances, be it to the Sydney Swans, the Corgi Club or, with the once popular fish - an early symbol of faith that rose to fad proportions during the 1990s.

That the focus had now turned to family was not surprising in the context of world conflict, financial uncertainty and flatlining domestic politics, Dr Byrne said.

"There's a lot of fear and angst in the world at the moment - fear about financial crisis, disturbances between nations and religious points of view, and there's an absence of differentiation between [Australian] political parties," said Dr Byrne, a senior lecturer in clinical and forensic psychology at the University of Wollongong.

"People are finding it much harder these days to use politics as a point of connection in terms of social points of view.

"People are saying: 'these are my family, these are the important people in my life, this is where I'm going to focus my attention because I don't have that sense of safety and surety with the outside world'."

Mt Ousley mum Sonia Andraos wasn't thinking much about politics or world affairs when she stuck a likeness of her family on their car's rear window.

They bought the stickers online. For herself she ordered M2 - Mother with laptop and mobile - and her husband Ray, a gym-goer, was F3 - Father lifting weights.

The kids, Zarah, 7, and James, 11, picked OG7 - older girl with soccer ball - and B4 - Boy with rugby ball.

The buys were the result of "peer group pressure", Mrs Andraos said.

"The kids saw them on everyone else's car and wanted them," she said.

"It was just a novelty item.

"When the novelty wears off you can just pull them off."

The novelty began in 2009 when Queensland couple Monica Liebenow, a graphic designer, and Phil Barham, a chiropractor, created a set of stickers inspired by a range Mr Barham had seen when travelling in the United States.

They sold the stickers at school fetes and weekend markets before Autobarn stores started picking them up, stocking them nationally by April 2010.

They are now sold in 754 retail outlets.

The two-millionth sticker moved from the factory floor in mid-2011 and markets have spread to New Zealand Japan, South Africa, Singapore, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Israel and the United Kingdom.

Scott McIntosh, advertising account director at Wollongong's Wisdom Advertising and Marketing, believes the creators achieved maximum mileage by the size of the sticker range, because it allowed people to personalise to a new degree.

There are 135 stickers in total, including C1 (cat looking scared), OB10 (older boy skiing), WCG (wheelchair girl), BD1 (bird facing left), YB1 (young boy picking nose) and - a best-seller - F10, father with barbecue.

"People have always had the desire to personalise their objects, through modification or through adorning it through stickers," Mr McIntosh said.

"This hooks people on another level because you can personalise your hobbies and interests, even down to your choice of pet.

"It's a form of self-promotion for a family. Along with Facebook, it's another medium for them to be able to express their family identity. I think it still would have had some traction years ago, but maybe people are more aware of self-promotion these days due to social media."

Whatever alignment of world affairs, social factors and timing has caused the incredible sticker sales, Ms Liebenow didn't see it coming.

She told the Mercury she had expected the stickers to sell to a small market and that she and Mr Barham, now her husband, thought they would "make a bit of money and that would be it".

She believes their appeal is largely about family pride, but that they have also become a way for all types to express themselves.

"What we've seen emerge is not just the family scenario of parents, kids, pets but a new type of sticker portrait that includes a solitary figure, or unusual combinations, for example, the gymnastics girls doing cartwheels across the window or the lady with 10 cats!" she said.

"There's humour in that and, in a way, it's connecting with the driver behind who's looking at this and smiling."

She admits the stickers are "not everyone's cup of tea", but has only more pain for the detractors. Recently a new magnet line has been released.

"When people see our magnets on our fridge at home, they instantly love them, so we're expecting some great results this year," she said.

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comments


Date: Newest first | Oldest first
My Husband and I have Zombie My Family stickers, we bought them from ThingGeek.com They suit us, as we love zombie movies.
Posted by MrsJaxon, 14/02/2012 10:16:39 AM, on Illawarra Mercury
I always believe car windows are too look out of for safety reasons, not to be

picture frames

Posted by oldie, 14/02/2012 10:47:31 AM, on Illawarra Mercury
I'm sorry but I don't get this craze. My wife wanted them and my response was that everyone else is on a need to know basis and I don't think John Smith sitting behind me at the lights needs to know any details about my family.
Posted by ...., 14/02/2012 10:59:50 AM, on Illawarra Mercury
how come this 'story' seems to arise every two weeks or so?

has been around since a heckler piece on the 21st december last in the smh and has been done to death ever since.

Posted by kristi, 14/02/2012 11:20:59 AM, on Illawarra Mercury
Saw someone take this left field a bit recently. The "heading" wasn't "My Family" but "Randoms". :-)
Posted by Adrian of Dapto, 14/02/2012 11:26:31 AM, on Illawarra Mercury
These stickers typify the 'follow the herd' mentality. No originality at all once everyone's doing it. I hate them. You can always spot the 'bogan' families - there's 10 kid pictures displayed.
Posted by Jasmine, 14/02/2012 11:28:35 AM, on Illawarra Mercury
ok, so the stickers are now stick figures "my family" as opposed to frangipanis. Surely there are more important news stories in the world, than this one?

Seriously. Who gives a fat rats?

Posted by kel, 14/02/2012 11:31:50 AM, on Illawarra Mercury
As long as the people depicted remain white and normal, none of us should really have a problem. If they start having dark or coloured people then we should get worried. *

*sarcasm alert

Posted by tds, 14/02/2012 12:15:01 PM, on Illawarra Mercury
What about the one with the Mother who has Four or Five Kid's all who have different Father's.
Posted by striker, 14/02/2012 12:24:51 PM, on Illawarra Mercury
Who cares!?!
Posted by isi, 14/02/2012 12:59:13 PM, on Illawarra Mercury
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Photo: STEVE HOLLAND
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