The landscape of personalized license plates is often a battlefield of wits and humor, where applicants try their hand at sneaking past various regulations. However, the State of Illinois keeps a careful watch on these clever attempts to ensure that public decency is not compromised by wayward vanity plate requests. In an exercise of administrative oversight, the Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has disclosed an assortment of license plate applications that have been rejected for being either offensive, indecent, or simply illegible - sharing a piece of the 2025 roundup of rebuffed creativity.
Revealed in a YouTube announcement, Giannoulias spoke on the sheer volume of applications processed this year, stating that "Illinoisans consistently show off their creativity on customized license plates, but anything that hits the road has to meet the standards of good taste and decency," according to WGN-TV. Amid over 55,000 applications, 550 were found unworthy and were added to the ever-growing rejection list, which now contains more than 8,558 combinations that struck out with the state's stringent standards.
The lighthearted yet firm approach by Giannoulias highlighted several of the rejected plates in his address, such as "BBL," "BRICKED," "IBPOOPN," "ICUP," and "BDASMOM" — the latter leading to a humorous quip wherein Giannoulias joked, "I keep telling my wife to stop requesting this plate," as reported by CBS News Chicago. The Secretary of State maintains a firm stance that while innovation and personal expression are welcomed, they must not cross the boundaries of taste and appropriateness.
With the advent of the holiday season, the Secretary extended festive wishes coupled with a word of advice for aspiring plate designers: "As always, go ahead and get creative but please keep it clean, and avoid ending up on the naughty list." While the festive spirit fills the air, the list—including those that have been deemed too risqué for print—serves as a reminder that there are limits to what can be displayed on the back of a vehicle as it journeys the roads of Illinois.
