Personalised Plates

A naughty number!

With so many of them on the roads today, few personal car registrations have caused more of a stir than those which adorn the company Smart Car driven by the Regtransfers Marketing Manager.

There is a very simple reason why this particular set of personalised plates raises many a chuckle with innocent passers-by - the plates read PEN 15 - a genuine, legal registration number issued by the DVLA, which is currently for sale at £99,995.

The number causes much amusement when spotted on the car which is parked outside the Regtransfers office every day. In fact, the car has become something of a minor celebrity in the Dunstable area, casually posing for photos at the side of the road outside our plush offices. In its striking yellowy-green hue with a quaint, if not cheeky smile, it really is a little poser.

Quite often, Regtransfers employees will leave the building at lunchtime or at the end of the day and find a group of schoolchildren huddled around the car taking photographs of the naughty number on their mobile phones. In fact, one picture was even sent in to the weekly men's magazine Nuts with an accompanying note stating that the personalised plates may have some relevance to the personality of the driver!

In fact, this particular set of personalised plates has raised quite a few objections and interesting comments. However, that just goes to prove how effective the plate is as a marketing tool and has done its job perfectly. Quite often when I tell people where I work, they'll respond with 'isn't that the place that has the penis number plate?'. Excellent marketing, indeed!

Rather surprisingly, towards the end of 2005, The Sun rejected an advert from Regtransfers which included the PEN 15 personalised plate. However, just a matter of days later, The Sun printed an article about a man with exceptionally large genitalia, complete with photographs and celebrity comparisons. This distasteful story was chosen above an advert for a perfectly genuine and legal car registration.

Although The Sun may raise hypocritical objections, Regtransfers are proud of their PEN 15, and continue to use the registration as the ultimate marketing tool and talking point for the company.