Stealth Bumper Sticker Prank

Putting a bumper sticker on someone else's car that says something stupid is an OK prank. But to stick one on that they might not even notice and shows up when lit with headlights from another car, that's waaaayyyy better.

Note: your target needs to have a black or very dark vehicle for this to work.

Step 1 The secret sauce

The main ingredient here is retroreflective black 3M adhesive vinyl. In other words, a big black sticker that shines back at you when you shine a light at it. It's awesome stuff, great for putting on your bike when you want to be a safer rider at night without looking like Safety Boy during the day.

Small pieces can be easily found on eBay. I got a 6" x 18" piece for about $10, including shipping. That's enough for 4-6 bumper stickers depending on how tall you want them.

eBay search for reflective tape

Comments

[White_Wolf]

This is all and all fun but........

In most city's and some States they have anti-tagging laws.

Make sure the "victim"  is someone you know that wont have you arrested for vandalism if you get caught! LOL

:0)

[PeoplesCar]

Agreed. This is a "prank" that can damage a car's paint / body work. For myself, personally, I would not be "cool" with this, no matter how close the friend that did it.

[downgrade]

 "if you get caught"
The point is to not get caught, what would be the point of putting something on someone's car while they watched you?
Besides, nothing is illegal if you don't get caught.

[Derin]

Like the fireworks and music played at SWAT bell levels EVERY NIGHT here in Turkey?

[Punkguyta]

 You and me both have something very in common :P

[Mehehehful]

 But if they found it then you would get caught and they could find it, like if they were getting something out of the trunk, washing the car, maybe even getting gas...

[Punkguyta]

 I wrote on the back of my teacher's SUV on his dusty window "Winston Churchill !!!" and then had a giant koolaid man right beside it. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it, it looked hilarious. I had done this early in the day when I got to school, and then later on while I was waiting to catch the bus outside, he came out to leave and take off, and he saw it (oh snap) but it confused the hell out of him, he didn't know it was me. He was like "I don't get it, thats pretty messed up.

[yoyology]

So I guess we know what side you're on in The Great Debate.

[popcorn4lunch]

that was the weirdest debate i have ever seen...

[sumguysr]

Krylon has transparent retroreflective spray paint, I wonder if that could be used on transparent film to make this for any color car. If anyone is tries please pm me.

[CodySteed]

I've tried that stuff, it doesnt seem to do much. not very reflective that i can see. maybe i can experiment more...

[animal0307]

Tried it with same color of spray paint as the car??

[Bodies]

The letters would still show up black in daylight

[Kiteman]

Team Edward?  Seriously?

[fungus amungus]

Yes. It was canida's suggestion.

[canida]

It was the absolute worst thing I could think of. ;)

However, check out this awesome Team Edward t-shirt.

[Duct Tape Dude]

That's not as evil as my idea....Honk if you want to see my manboobs

[Madrigorne]

WIN!

[hydr0ph0en1x]

Ahahaa, nice message. I'm sure your friend will hate that.

[Goodhart]

Hmmm,  depending on how old the person is, the message: I love Basket weaving
might have more impact LOL

 

[hydr0ph0en1x]

Heh, on that subject, maybe knitting. Especially if it is a guy. Actually... I think my brother took up knitting for a while. o.o

[Goodhart]

How about:   I ♥ picking my nose.

LOL 

 

[hydr0ph0en1x]

Ooh, I saw this one written in dust on a truck that said "this driver drives naked" Pretty funny.

[Goodhart]

Oh,  that would NOT be one to look AT....especially depending on the size of the truck.....*shudder*  

[hydr0ph0en1x]

Eh, curiosity. You would definitely get a lot of people staring at you funny, trying to see if it is true.

[Goodhart]

Oh, I just meant,  that would not be a truck to "look into".... :-D

[seriousdisturbed]

For those concerned with the legal ramifications, use flat magnets on the back of the bumper 'sticker' to apply to any part of the card made of metal(most often NOT the plastic bumper, sadly).

Those magnetic business cards work best...no need to purchase special magnets.  Just adhere the enitre magnet to the back of the sticker.

No worries about permanent damage to anybody's property.  However, public humiliation may still be an issue. :P

[joejoerowley]

 I bet you could attach a magnet/piece of metal to the inside of the bumper also to hold the magnetic bumper sticker on... Just a thought.

[geodez]

Because nobody, wants to look like safety boy.

[Seleziona]

Totally awesome!

[8bit]

This would be funnier if it wasn't for police bumper sticker profiling.  

[Zilduli]

Why not whip up a few of these to put on the back of police cruisers in your area? Something like "How's my driving?" and then the phone number of the sheriff's office and a car ID number. Sure you might get in tons of trouble for it, but you have to admit it would be awesome.

[Johenix]

Tailor it to the cop.
Nice cop: "I Brake For Donuts"
Fat nasty cop: "OINK OINK"
Cute female cop: "Miss Aprehension"

What ever you do DO NOT GET CAUGHT!!!

[Ranie-K]

I just realized how to do this with other colors!

Say, your friend has a red car, then you buy a piece of red reflective tape/sticker, a can of red paint and some sticky letters.

Spell your message using the letters on the big sticker/foil. Spray paint on the whole thing, wait for the paint to harden, then remove the sticky letters.

Voila -stealth bumper sticker!

[fungus amungus]

I thought of that, too, but getting the right shade of red is trickier than getting the right black.

Good point about getting adhesive letters, though. That's a good way to do it. I'm just a sucker for control over fonts.

[Ranie-K]

I might do "red on red" on a black background on my on vehicle. Daytime -a red rectangle -nighttime -a sign!

[timothymh]

 But the victim might wonder why someone put a red rectangle on their car.

[Ranie-K]

My own vehicle.

[timothymh]

 Ah. ...But then it isn't a trick.

[whiteoakart]

Another possibility to save on the spray paint and its toxic effects would be to simply cut out the letters from the reflective film.  It could be a little trickier to apply as the sticker would be flimsier, but you can solve this with a DIY backing film.  I do this when I make vinyl cut window stickers for shop windows in our town.

1. Cut a bumper sticker shaped rectangle from the 3M vinyl.
2. Trace your 'art' onto it and cut it out with an X-acto knife.  Pull the graphics out and discard or reuse. Try not to cut through the adhesive backing paper.
3. Backing paper.   Spray a sheet of freezer paper or vellum with spray glue. Let it sit until it is not wet, but tacky.  Attach it to the face of your bumper sticker.  Now, you have the adhesive backing on one side and the DIY backing paper on the other.
4. Pull of the adhesive backing paper and stick the whole assembly onto the targeted car bumper.
5. The vinyl adhesive is much stronger than your spray mount freezer paper, so now you can peel the freezer paper right off.

When the light reflects off it, the sticker will be a bright white rectangle and the letters will be black, because the cars paint is showing through.