Have you ever seen those NOTW® stickers on the backs of family wagons and SUVs? Do you know what it stands for? Have you ever noticed the inherent irony of it?

That’s very funny.

I have neither seen these nor heard anything about this.

Are you certain that it is really being used by Christians themselves rather than those being satirical about the more fundy element of Christianity.

That way the TM symbol would make more sense. Possibly a satirical reaction to the prevalence of those bumper stickers propagated by the fans of the “Left Behind” series of books. The ones which warn, “if this car is suddenly without a driver, they’ve been raptured” or something similar to that phrasing.

Or similar to the Darwin Fish. This is a take off on the usual fish symbol and the fish is pictured with a set of feet, an obvious nod to evolution.

I find it difficult to take the TM seriously for just a combo of four letters like that. Is that even legally able to be trademarked?

Anyhow, my guess would be more along the lines of satire.

And if it isn’t, it probably should be :)

Forbidden to Paste/Post

I have never really noticed.

I take no issue as to anyones bumper sticker statements, I enjoy getting a glimpse of how others think, are oriented through bumper stickers.

I have 2 on my car…one that says ’ Live in the present’ and another that says ’ Shed light, not blood.’

I actually was approached by a man in a parking lot once that called me a hippie liberal…lololol

It was very amusing…how someone will reduce the multi-facited totality of a human being down to a few words on a bumper sticker….uh no..I actually have no political affiliations and my bumper stickers, if anything, are mere reminders to be here now and to always seek intelligent and non-violent solutions first before bringing out the big guns.
Pretty healthy messages IMO.

No, I haven’t seen that. But I’ve seen photos of “Bill Stickers Will Be Prosecuted” on exterior building walls, for example, with the graffiti following:

“Bill Stickers is innocent!”
and
“Free Bill Stickers!”

@Kraigmo

It would be considerate if you would make some reference to the fact that both your original question as well as the details were significantly edited so that posts made afterwards (based upon the OLD INFO) did not appear so weirdly out of place. It’s considered basic manners.

To answer the revised Q. It’s not the letters themselves but rather the stylized logo, containing a very specific variation of those letters, which is registered as a trademark.

Plus, the bumper sticker is a pretty miniscule part of the overall business. I did a little research on this and this is the primary logo for a clothing line.

That’s an entirely different scenario. It seems like every rapper and his brother now has a clothing line with logos galore.

This is just a similar thing. It’s not my particular style of clothing, (and neither are the various rapper’s) but the artwork is obviously produced by skillful artists. So, it just makes sense to prevent it from getting ripped off.

Since it’s primarily for a clothing line aimed primarily at young people in the same manner as the rapper’s clothing or biker clothing, I think the irony is pretty much a secondary issue.

Every group enjoys wearing stuff with their particular logo on it, so this is basically the same thing.

Look at it this way. At least those freethinkers who don’t wish to be preached to can easily avoid that possibility by steering clear of anyone wearing this clothing line :)

Sounds fair to me.

@Buttonstc , I didn’t change anything significant. The sticker in question occasionally has the “TM” sign, but usually has the ® sign. So I just changed that detail to reflect which one was more common. “tm” and ® are often interchangeable.

@Buttonstc
I’ve got a post that just went to editing and I have no idea if I covered all bases in re writing to reflect the answers it got. I hope no one will take offense.

I’m also referring to the link with a pic of the actual sticker which makes it clear that it’s NOT JUST a bunch of letters. It’s an actual piece of artwork which creates a stylized logo.

A lengthy explanation wasn’t necessary. Is it too much trouble to type four little letters, namely EDIT. Good grief. A little bit of courtesy never hurts.

It means Not Of This World. I don’t think there’s much irony in it, they’re just protecting their idea.

The only thing I have that comes close is when I saw notice from a group of anarchists announcing their next meeting and that it would be held at a local state park because it had pretty good bathroom facilities. LOL. Where do those nitwits think the state park and bathrooms came from? “The State”, funded by taxpayers, obviously.

@lillycoyote That’s funny! If you’re into anarchist humor you might enjoy a short story called “At the Anarchist’s Convention” by John Sayles.

@janbb Thanks, I love John Sayles but I’m not all that familiar with his writing, just the films. I checking my local library’s online catalogue and it’s not in the system, at least not in the county system. But, I found it online at Google Books so I’m all set. It looks good.

I haven’t read it it in a while but it is terrific; all the old guys refighting the old fights.