Posts about War of 1812
The Maryland "War of 1812" license plates include a URL at the bottom of the plate:www [.] StarSpangled200 [.] org.
According to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, that URL has, at various times, pointed to:
July 19, 2011: A Maryland 'Official Web Site of the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission'.
February 18, 2020: The Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
June 23, 2020: An article from The National Parks Service about the War of 1812.
Today, the URL redirects to a website about gambling in Philippine Online Casinos. I won't link to the direct website, but the Internet Archive Wayback Machine grabbed a snapshot on May 6, 2023 that looks the same as the actual website today.
I was never a fan of having a plate celebrating the War of 1812, but I'm even more upset now that I (and tons of other Marylanders) are driving advertisements for international online gambling.
Edit:
Looks like the State has been made aware of the situation: https://www.reddit.com/r/maryland/comments/13wiqfn/web_address_on_maryland_license_plates_leads_to/
Edit 2:
I don't know that I ever expected this to be seen by anyone with a bigger voice or by those in a position of responsibility. I do feel bad for the employees having to deal with this. It's unlikely that any of them were making the decisions back when these plates were being planned. I can certainly empathize with how crappy it is having to be the public face defending / fixing the problems caused by predecessors.
That being said: this whole thing is, objectively, hilarious.
The Maryland "War of 1812" license plates include a URL at the bottom of the plate:www [.] StarSpangled200 [.] org.
According to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, that URL has, at various times, pointed to:
July 19, 2011: A Maryland 'Official Web Site of the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission'.
February 18, 2020: The Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
June 23, 2020: An article from The National Parks Service about the War of 1812.
Today, the URL redirects to a website about gambling in Philippine Online Casinos. I won't link to the direct website, but the Internet Archive Wayback Machine grabbed a snapshot on May 6, 2023 that looks the same as the actual website today.
I was never a fan of having a plate celebrating the War of 1812, but I'm even more upset now that I (and tons of other Marylanders) are driving advertisements for international online gambling.
Edit:
Looks like the State has been made aware of the situation: https://www.reddit.com/r/maryland/comments/13wiqfn/web_address_on_maryland_license_plates_leads_to/
Edit 2:
I don't know that I ever expected this to be seen by anyone with a bigger voice or by those in a position of responsibility. I do feel bad for the employees having to deal with this. It's unlikely that any of them were making the decisions back when these plates were being planned. I can certainly empathize with how crappy it is having to be the public face defending / fixing the problems caused by predecessors.
That being said: this whole thing is, objectively, hilarious.
