Tofu License Plate: Is ‘ILVTOFU’ Vulgar?

A Colorado woman’s calling foul play over the state’s decision to reject her vanity license plate application. The woman applied to have “ILVTOFU” on her plate to express, she says, her love for bean curd. The state read the message in another way.

The Tofu License Plate

The woman, Kelly Coffman-Lee, says her reason for the tofu license plate is simple: She likes tofu. A vegan, she wanted to profess her feelings on the bottom of her bumper.

Colorado’s Department of Revenue, though, saw it differently. The state said that even if the plate was meant to be read as “I-LV-TOFU,” it could easily be misinterpreted as the less pure “I-LV-TO-F-U.”

Coffman-Lee calls the decision “crazy,” telling media outlets that tofu is “very wholesome” and anything but “a dirty, evil food.” The state stands behind its decision, however, telling the Associated Press:

“We don’t allow ‘FU’ because some people could read that as street language for sex.”