It all began with a single photo.
A silver Kia Sportage parked casually at a shopping center in Perth. Nothing flashy. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just another car among many—until someone noticed the license plate.
At first glance, it looked completely harmless:
370HSSV
Just a mix of numbers and letters. No obvious meaning. No red flags.
Then someone turned their phone upside down.
And suddenly, everything changed.
What once seemed like a random registration transformed into a moment of pure visual wordplay—one so subtle that it slipped past official filters and went straight into viral internet history.
The image, shared by Jeffrey on the Facebook page The Bell Tower Times 2.0, quickly exploded online. Thousands of likes, shares, and comments poured in, filled with laughter, disbelief, and admiration for the cleverness behind it.
Because the best kind of creativity doesn’t announce itself loudly.
Sometimes, it waits quietly… until you look at it from a different angle.
🔍 The Trick Is in the Turn
Take another look at the plate:
370HSSV
Now flip it upside down.
Slowly. Carefully.
Suddenly, the characters begin to shift into something far more recognizable:
3 becomes E
7 resembles L
0 turns into O
H stays H
S still looks like S
V finishes the shape of a familiar word
When rotated, the plate forms a cheeky word that sounds exactly like what your brain just filled in.
No explicit language.
No banned terms.
No offensive symbols.
Just clever symmetry and perspective—simple enough to pass official screening, yet witty enough to make people do a double take.
And once you see it?
You can’t unsee it.
🇦🇺 How Did This Plate Get Approved?
In Western Australia, personalized license plates go through a strict approval process managed by the Department of Transport. Every custom plate is reviewed to prevent:
Offensive or explicit language
Inappropriate slang
Impersonation of emergency or official vehicles
Confusing or misleading combinations
Each year, hundreds of applications are rejected for being too suggestive or crossing the line.
And yet, this one made it through.
Possibly because the meaning only appears when flipped.
Possibly because it stayed just ambiguous enough.
Or possibly because no one thought to turn it upside down.
Whatever the reason, the result is undeniable.
It’s harmless.
It’s funny.
And it’s a perfect example of how perspective changes everything.
Sometimes, all it takes to uncover brilliance… is turning the world around.
