There is an unfortunate lack of bumper stickers in Dubai. Why this should be the case is not entirely clear but it is likely to be linked to the fact that the UAE is a Muslim country. A large majority of the world's bumper stickers are either offensive or vulgar and that sort of thing really isn't tolerated in Dubai. Fortunately, a small minority of bumper stickers are neither offensive nor vulgar but are simply sad and unfunny instead. This is the market niche that the few bumper sticker manufacturers in Dubai have sought to exploit.

The Stickers

The bumper stickers on sale in Dubai fall broadly into two categories; stickers for tourists and stickers for residents.

Stickers for Tourists

This sort of sticker is normally found in hotel gift shops and the airport duty free but is occasionally sighted in various card and gift shops around the city. Slogans include:

• DUBAI
• I (heart) Dubai
• DUBAI - My other car is a camel
• Some like it hot. I like it air conditioned

These stickers can retail at anything from around Dhs 8.00 to around Dhs 20.00. It depends on the size of the sticker in question, which company produces it and how much the retailers feel they can con unsuspecting tourists out of.

Stickers for Residents

These are produced almost solely by Dubai's various nationalistic societies for their members. Examples of these include The Dubai Welsh Society, --- and ---. They tend to produce either stickers showing the national flag of the country in question or the logo of the society.

Dubai will have to become a lot more liberal before slogans like 'Unless you're a haemorrhoid, get off my ass' and 'Allah loves you. Everyone else thinks you're an a*****e' are accepted in public.