At one time, the humble mud flap or splash guard were nothing more than truck and auto accessories of thick black rubber, meant to protect your truck from stones, dirt and other debris thrown up from the road. Over time, mud flaps have gone from functional truck and car accessories to a pop culture form of self-expression.

The most iconic of these truck and car accessories characters is simply known as “The Mud Flap Girl”. We’ve all seen her before: She’s the buxom silver silhouette of a long-legged beauty lounging with one leg provocatively crossed over the other, hair blowing in the wind. Bill Zinda of Wiz Enterprises in Long Beach, California, created this famous character to promote his line of truck and auto accessories and based the character upon a famous model named Leta Laroe.

Another famous character to make an appearance on these truck and car accessories is Yosemite Sam pointing his two cartoon pistols with a caption beneath declaring, “Back Off!” or, “All Fired Up”. Other Warner Brother characters have also made appearances, such as a frightened Daffy Duck and an overly upset Tweety Bird.

These mud flap characters are so engrained in our psych that they have gone beyond truck and car accessories and began appearing in commercials together. One famous commercial created for the Superbowl in 2006 had the Mud Flap Girl and Yosemite Sam driving away in a Honda Ridgeway.

Sadly, it More…

There is a big market out there and a thousand and one ways to reach out to them. But where does one start? Short of coming out with an expensive billboard that might not give you the immediate results, what other options are there?

One of the easiest ways to build your consumer base is to have your brand seen in public places and transportation such as buses, trains, and cabs is through inexpensive custom auto accessories like bumper stickers and decals. Many guerilla marketers and small independent brands working with limited budgets have found success with these cheap promotional items, which have become trustworthy marketing materials. Another way to reach out to an audience that is always on the move is through custom auto accessories like shades, door signs, license plate holders, and antenna balls. Diminutive they may be, but these custom auto accessories are the kind of objects that will get your brand seen not just by your recipients but every commuter they pass.

It also helps to get your logo in the hands of the people you want to reach. Some pocket-friendly custom auto accessories like plastic and metal key chains are inexpensive ways to be seen up close. Unlike other custom auto accessories like shades, door signs, stickers, and decals that offer fleeting images, getting your logo in the line of vision of your market will help you build stronger brand recall. For a more specific audience like auto enthusiasts, custom auto accessori More…