‘ASSMAN’ denied, name not allowed on Sask. plates

It may be his last name, but it doesn’t mean he can have it on his licence plate.

SGI recently rejected David Assman’s request to get his last name on his plate because people may find it offensive.

Assman shares the same name with famous Regina gas jockey Dick Assman, who rose to fame after appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman.

SGI’s Tyler McMurchy said that even though David’s last name isn’t pronounced the way it is spelled, that doesn’t matter when picking a license plate.

“Unfortunately some people do have last names that seem out of context – just sitting on a license plate (it) would be considered an offensive term by some people,” McMurchy said.

He noted SGI is a government agency and license plates are the property of the Crown corporation.

“Most people would agree that you shouldn’t be able to put the F-word or a racial slur on a license plate. There is a need for some standards.”

McMurchy added this isn’t a case of just one person being offended by something during the review process.

“SGI tends to err on the side of caution.”

There is a wide variety of reasons a slogan would be rejected including slogans that promote impaired driving or street racing, slogans that hint at sex, drug, criminal or politcal connotations as well as racial slurs.

He said SGI has a slogan checker on their website where a person can check if a slogan is inappropriate or is taken.

Some of the slogans that have not been approved in the past include HIBALL, SHTUP, TITTY and ROACH.