John Hughes Hid A Chevy Chase Easter Egg in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’

By the time he made Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, John Hughes was playing with house money. He already had a string of hit movie comedies under his belt, including Mr. Mom, National Lampoon’s Vacation and The Breakfast Club.  Even though he was only three years into his film career, Hughes had enough juice to pay homage to his own hits with hidden Easter eggs in Ferris Bueller. 

Hughes tipping his hat to Hughes came in the form of license plates. Many of the characters drove cars that gave subtle shout-outs to the comedies that came before. 

For example, Ferris’s mom must have been a big Chevy Chase fan. Her VCTN license plate nods to his Hughes comedy, National Lampoon’s Vacation. 

Ferris’ dad drives a sporty number with MMOM plates, a tribute to Hughes’ first produced comedy, Mr. Mom. 

The plates on Jeannie’s car are the hardest to make out, but they read TBC — an acronym for The Breakfast Club. 

And Principal Rooney gets the honor of driving around with 4FBDO — “For Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

There’s one other vanity plate in the film as well, though it isn’t a reference to another Hughes film. That’s NRVOUS on the back of Cameron’s dad’s Ferrari — a fitting description of Cameron’s anxious attitude when they borrow the car for the day.

It’s a goofy visual signature, but Hughes pulled off the trick in some of his other movies as well. Jake in Sixteen Candles has a plate that features the writer/director’s birthday, 21850 (February 18, 1950). In The Breakfast Club, Anthony Michael “The Brain” Hall shows up for school in a car featuring a license plate version of Einstein’s formula, EMC2. And Kevin Bacon drives a BMW with SHAB plates in She’s Having A Baby.

More Ferris Bueller Easter eggs that let you know Ferris lives in the Hughesverse:

• Ferris takes a day off from Shermer High School, the same Chicago suburban school where the kids spend their all-day detention in The Breakfast Club and the high school dance location in Sixteen Candles
• A Simple Minds poster for Breakfast Club anthem “Don’t You Forget About Me” hangs on Ferris’ bedroom wall  

• Alan Ruck wore an actual Gordie Howe jersey in the film, a tribute to Hughes’ favorite hockey player while growing up outside Detroit. Howe appreciated the nod, telling Sports Illustrated, “It was nice seeing the No. 9 on the big screen.”