Michael The financially hard-hit state of California is currently trying to generate additional revenue in an unusual way: Since every car is already required by the state to display two license plates, why shouldn't the state be allowed to place a profitable advertising banner on them?
And in our time and age, it shouldn't just be any sticker, but an electronic display into which the state wirelessly and up-to-the-minute broadcasts paid advertisements. The advertising industry could thus, for example, inform the person stuck in traffic behind you about the advantages of popular detergents and breakfast cereals in a profit-generating way, and the state of California would rake in a considerable amount of money as a middleman. Everyone would benefit!
Sounds crazy, but actual newspapers are reporting on the new interactive license plates and even the proposed legal bill is already available or the legal analysis of the planned license plate advertising. However, it appears that the proposal will likely be rejected, as the state, due to the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression, would not only have to grant advertising rights to the detergent industry but also to various extreme groups to distribute their pamphlets to the public.
If a driver doesn't like an advertisement, they should be able to actively intervene to prevent it from being broadcast. But since Californian drivers a) can't drive anyway and b) are already too busy with (now banned) phone chatter, a license plate display lever would probably be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I don't think anything will come of the proposal, but it was certainly entertaining. Only in America.