Vegan Victuals: The Blog |

ILVTOFU

TOFU LICENSE PLATE DENIED BY COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES (Associated Content, Inc.) — A Colorado woman’s request for a certain license plate was denied by the state after close examination, according to the AP. The license plate, which utilizes the letters ILVTOFU, was rejected by state officials. The woman, Kelly Coffman-Lee, apparently consumes tofu as a big part of her diet, and she claimed that she wanted to share her love for tofu with others.

The Division of Motor Vehicles, best known as the DMV, denied her request for the license plate. ILVTOFU could be misinterpreted as an inappropriate statement by other drivers on the road. Apparently, the DMV rejects a significant amount of potential license plates every single year due to potentially obscene phrases or associations.

Coffman-Lee is a vegan, and she claims that the DMV misinterpreted her message. While this may be the case, it is clear that people could easily get the wrong impression from the combination of letters. The DMV probably doesn’t mind that she is a vegan herself—rather, they are just looking to protect themselves from any potential issues that may arise from the plate.

One thing that Coffman-Lee could look into doing is simply reorganizing the order or combination of words on her license plate. For instance, she could look into stating “Tofu I Love,” or something else of the sort. While “tofu” is a very troubling word to put on a license plate in itself, there is a slight chance that changing up her words could allow for the license plate to pass through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The DMV keeps a keen eye out for any license plate proposals that may be considered inappropriate by the general public. They also look for references to drugs, gangs, and sexual associations. In my opinion, this is a great thing to do—the public should be protected from anything that could be considered widely inappropriate.