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 appears that both of these figures have been targeted by legislation, when officials in Arizona tried to pass a ban on the two icons on the grounds of political correctness (one promoting sex and the other promoting gun violence). For the time being, the legislation on these truck and auto accessories has been struck down.
As long as that law doesn't pass, you can find quality auto accessories and mud flaps that can have anything on them from your favorite sports team logo to the picture of your dog.
Self-expression isn't a reason to sacrifice quality auto accessories anymore. You can find many manufacturers who can produce a mud flap to your vehicle and personality type. Whether you want a skull and crossbones or the Ghost busters logo, mud flaps can be created with top-of-the-line materials to let you "keep on truckin'".
The most popular use of custom mud flaps nowadays are for company vehicles. If you've ever been caught behind a large semi on the highway, or maybe stuck in traffic behind a moving van, you may have noticed that mud flaps are an effective advertising tool. Most companies spend a little extra in this truck and auto accessory to manipulate their vehicles to carry the company name and phone number on mud flaps.
There is a lot to be said about these protective rubber truck and car accessories hanging off the back of someone's truck or car. Truck and auto accessories have never been so versatile, useful, and smart as mud flaps. Choose your design, spruce up your truck, and head on out to show off your style!
