Indeed. I bought the Rebel *because* it stands out. There is no set standard of badges. The concept of more minimal is just a styling issue from the manufacturers themselves. For decades they made big emblems, then they started shrinking them, and now they've been increasing the sizes again for a decade. Mostly on their "special" models, of course.
When I grew up, people debadged to make their cars less easy to identify. Especially those small-town folks that bought nicer cars that weren't American and didn't want to attract a lot of attention to that. As a kid, I learned to recognize BMWs and Volvos and the like from their grillwork and other key trim. Back then if you weren't driving American, you were probably a commie.
I'm retired so my Rebel's parked in my driveway a lot - won't quite fit in the garage. I've had it 2 months now. The driveway is 150', curved, and partially hidden with pine trees. I was taking the recycling out to the street the other day at the same time the recycling hauler shows up. Super guy, always pleasant, and we usually chat for a minute before he has to get on with his job. This time, he starts asking me about the truck. He's only seen one other Rebel, and he tells me where he generally runs across it on his routes. We ended up talking 15 minutes and I gave him a quick tour of the truck.
BTW, I always park the truck in nose first, so the only thing visible from the road is the back end and the RAM logo, and even that's partially hidden from the street. That's all he was able to see of it.
People do notice. Badging isn't out with everyone.
