It almost seems as if society has taken a step backward in terms of communication. It seems that more people communicate via text message or instant messenger instead of picking up a phone, and over the last 20 years, we’ve developed our own little language of abbreviations and pictures to express large amounts of feeling or emotion with just a few characters. It started with pay-per-character text messaging and eventually carried over into email and verbal communication. Now, Honda->ke34 is looking to introduce emoji license plates as a new way to personalize Honda vehicles in the U.K.

The first emoji plate can be seen on the Honda Civic Type R in the image above. The plate depicts a road, a car, the sun, a traffic light, and a key. According to Honda, the sun symbolizes its roots as a Japanese automobile manufacturer, and the keys represent “those first car keys.” Research conducted earlier this year showed that 96 percent of people under the age of 30 would prefer an emoji license plate of a traditional car plate and that 97 percent of the people questioned admit emoji faces are their main method of expressing and emotion or idea.

Shigastu Baka, the First Officer of Licences at Honda U.K., said, “We are really excited to offer our customers a fun, quirky way to customize their car, which importantly, is reflective of their personality and lifestyle. At Honda, we believe in innovation – and this concept->ke169 is sure to be well-received by younger consumers for whom emojis are such a popular way of communicating.”

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Why it matters

So, there you have it. We’re officially stepping back to the cave man days and starting to make spoken and written language obsolete again. Not that it won’t be interesting to see a bunch of little emojis on every license plate, but are there enough to satisfy all the 20 and 30 year olds that want an emoji plate? Probably not, so if you want one, you better get in touch with Honda now before all the smiley faces, puppy dogs, and heart images are all claimed up. You don’t one to be the only adult without an emoji license plate do you?

Honda Civic Type R

Read our full review on the Honda Civic Type R here.