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Assman strikes back: Denied licence plate, Saskatchewan man emblazons 'offensive' last name on tailgate

The Melville man had an oversized decal designed to replicate the plate in question. 'Well I just wanted to go big!'

Alex MacPherson, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, February 13, 2019, 11:16 AM EST, https://nationalpost.com/news/...1b-acc3-581861553eb9

https://nationalpostcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/dpxr-hgb.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=780Dave Assman of Melville, Sask. had a giant vanity plate bearing his name painted on the tailgate of his truck after Saskatchewan Government Insurance again refused to issue a legitimate plate with his name on it.Photo courtesy Dave Assman

When it comes to celebrating his family name, Dave Assman refuses to take no for an answer.

After Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) denied his latest request for an ‘ASSMAN’ vanity license plate, the Melville man had an oversized decal designed to replicate the plate in question and then placed the decal on the tailgate of his white Dodge Ram pickup truck.

Assman — pronounced OSS-men — said he appealed SGI’s decision Tuesday and received a message around four hours later that his request had once again been rejected. Then the railroad worker took action.

“I could have got a plate for the front but I really wanted a vanity plate on the back of my truck!” Assman said in a social media post showing off the decal.

“See, I hate to say it but I’m kinda a sarcastic ass and well I just wanted to go big!” he said later via direct message.

In addition to his name, the decal includes the word “Saskatchewan” and the provincial motto “Land of Living Skies.” It even features what looks like the four bolt openings used for attaching to vehicles every license plate in the province.

https://postmediathestarphoenix2.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/dpxr-hgb.jpg?quality=60&strip=allDave Assman of Melville, Sask. had a giant vanity plate bearing his name painted on the tailgate of his truck after Saskatchewan Government Insurance again refused to issue a legitimate plate with his name on it. (Photo courtesy Dave Assman) Photo courtesy Dave Assman

Assman first tried to put his name on a license plate in the 1990s. That application was rejected by SGI as “profanity.” His recent application was denied on the grounds that it was “offensive, suggestive or not in good taste.”

“I think they are too worried that people are going to have hurt feelings about something that is complete nonsense,” Assman told the National Post by direct message last week. “Even if it wasn’t my last name who is it going to hurt?”

SGI, like all provincial authorities responsible for vanity plates, refuses any application that have even a whiff of sexuality, drug references, politics or religion. Its list of rejected vanity plates runs to 85 pages.

Speaking to the National Post last week, SGI spokesman Tyler McMurchy said the agency generally errs on the side of caution.

“Even if a word is someone’s name and pronounced differently than the offensive version, that’s not something that would be apparent to other motorists who will see the plate,” McMurchy said.

McMurchy on Wednesday said in an email that SGI’s official response is contained in a tweet on SGI’s official Twitter account: “All’s well that ends well,” SGI tweeted along with a smily-face emoji.

https://postmediathestarphoenix2.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/12137906.jpg?quality=60&strip=allDick Assman poses by a gas pump at a South Albert St. Petro-Canada gas station in Regina, Saskatchewan on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 Michael Bell / Canadian Press

This is not the first time a Saskatchewan resident named Assman has achieved a sense of prominence.

In the 1990s, a Regina gas station attendant named Dick Assman became a household name after late-night talk show host David Letterman featured him in a series of gags and once as an in-studio guest.

Dick Assman, whose name was for years emblazoned on a massive sign outside the Petro-Canada gas station where he worked, died in 2016. He was memorialized in the New York Times.

— With National Post files from Tristin Hopper

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Leonora posted:

There was an Indian movie called Aasmaan in the 1980s and everyone had a field day with the name but the word means heaven. 

Aasmaan (1984) | Full Hindi Movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWh74MDh7w0

Aasmaan (1984) | Full Hindi Movie | Rajeev Kapoor | Tina Munim

FM
Leonora posted:

There was an Indian movie called Aasmaan in the 1980s and everyone had a field day with the name but the word means heaven. 

Gyal, you wutilss you know. One banna was quoted naming Dick Assman in the article. What was their parents thinking when they gave them those names ?

I noticed that some Afros are named Blackman and they are fine with the name. I would be uncomfortabel if I have the name Cooli*. It just does not sound right.

To each his own including the Assman.

FM
Last edited by Former Member
Leonora posted:

There was an Indian movie called Aasmaan in the 1980s and everyone had a field day with the name but the word means heaven. 

This was also from the 80's. thought of it as you mentioned Indian movie and Aasman. 

FM
cain posted:

Oi man ...dem songs got something bout Assman in dem?

Different spelling bai. Aasman which means heaven. Not assman which means shitman. 

De adda songs are just because I fell into the mood. 

FM

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