The New Sticker Craze Taking Over Australia

REMEMBER those annoying “My Family” stickers that used to be everywhere?

Well, be warned there’s a new bumper sticker craze sweeping the country.

Introducing Postcode Stickers — colourful bumper stickers that let drivers proudly show off their postcode to everyone they pass.

Alexis Carey, writing for news.com.au reported the stickers are the brainchild of Carlo Lowden, of Torquay, Victoria, and are being sold in Australia Post branches across the country as well as online. The article went on:

Mr Lowden said he started his business e3products with a plan to sell tourist stickers but then had the idea for the postcodes based on his own experience of living in the country.

“I grew up in a small town where you used to wave to everyone when you were out buying milk, but nowadays there are so many people in town and so many people with new cars, so you don’t wave to as many people as you used to,” he said.

“But when you see someone with your postcode on the back, you know they’re a local.”

The Postcode Stickers, which sell for $6 each, are taking off after Australia Post agreed to sell the product.

“People like saying where they are from on the back of their car. But Postcode Stickers do it in a secretive way — because only people from your town will know the postcode,” he said.

“When you’re driving around town and you see your postcode on someone’s car, you get a good feeling.”

Mr Lowden said sales suggested the stickers were especially popular among people from small coastal towns, with his own postcode of 3228 the current bestseller, followed by 3225, which also includes small beach areas near Geelong in Victoria.

He said more than 15,000 units had been sold this year.

“Beachgoers love stickers, especially surfers. Surf brands built their brands on stickers — it was their main source of promotion,” he said.

“Parents with kids love them, and so do ute drivers and van drivers.

“They seem to work especially in coastal towns with between 3000-15,000 people … and in places where people love where they live.”

Mr Lowden even conducted his own research on bumper stickers, visiting train stations and airports in cities to count their use, and found 51 per cent of cars sport them.

He said he’d love his products to become “the next My Family stickers” — although he understood why some people found bumper stickers irritating.

“You’re either a sticker lover or a hater — but that’s pretty much true about anything, especially when something gets famous,” he said.

“What’s surprising is that it seems to be split almost 50-50. There’s always a confrontational side — you can’t have everyone like you.

“Some people like stickers because they take pride in their car but sometimes people who have too much pride in their car don’t like them.”

Mr Lowden said he would love his stickers to grow in Australia and worldwide.

“I’d love them to become a trend. It’s all about community. In this day and age we need a bit more community spirit in the world and in Australia.”

My Family stickers were created by Gold Coast couple Monica Liebenow and Phil Barham in 2009.

The pair made millions of dollars from the popular but divisive decals, which were sold around the globe.

They were so lucrative they even spawned copycat stickers, forcing Liebenow and Barham to seek legal advice over trademark infringements.