On Jersey Shore Family Vacation, the show is full of sign and highway images. I'm wondering if there is a roadgeek on the production team.
Also, on the original Jersey Shore, there were route markers on the wall in the house (granted the state one was wrong)
RoadGreek.
I cannot answer your question, but you have coined a very amusing term, and I hope sticks it around!
I'm not sure, but one of the identities of NJ is its toll roads so maybe it's just a theme they decided to go with?
Yeah, I'm thinking it's an identity thing. One year, my work team at a PA based company decided to go Jersey themed for Halloween and had us all make sign costumes for the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. I was the only Jersey person on the team, so it was amusing that this was what a bunch of Pennsylvanians landed on. Not beachwear/shore theme. Not factory/smog theme. And not pizza/Taylor ham theme. Exit signs.
So yeah, I'd say that other states think we really identify hard with our highway signs. I mean, we do tell each other where we live based on what exit we are off of. Some of us, anyway.
It must be the fact that the show's production company uses an I-495 shield as its logo. And get this, you won't believe who owns the company:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SallyAnn_Salsano
(this was the page I was redirected to when I looked up 495 Productions on Wikipedia)