What to do with old inflatables?

So, my station is changing it's logo. What do you do with a couple of the old logo inflatables? Do you throw them away? That seems like the only real option. Someone suggested giving them away in some type of on-air or web contest, but do I really want somebody yik-yak putting it up on their front lawn or maybe worse? Any good suggestions besides throwing away?

If they can make vinyl wraps for cars, surely they can make a vinyl wrap for your logo inflatable. See if you can find a sign company in your area that does vinyl wrap arounds and ask them if they could do something with your logo inflatable and your new calls/promo.

Oh, and NO you do NOT want your old logo floating around (sorry for the pun) in your community... it is salt in the emotional wounds to those who loved your old station, and its terribly confusing for those who have no clue about your old logo/calls/format.

No can do on the vinyl wrap. These have the old colors of the station imbedded in the cloth and everything is sewn on. They are not digitally printed,they are sewn.

Why don't you sell them on ebay with the condition that they will only be sold to a purchaser outside your market? Maybe just post them here for free if someone will pay the shipping. There are probably collectors out there who would like them and it beats putting them in a land-fill, especially in your own community.

How drastically did your station change? How big are these inflatables??

There are a couple of ideas here:

1) Hold on to them!!! Radio stations come & go (some even come back!), but nostalgia lives forever. Never know 10yrs down the line if somebody might want a chunk of history & be willing to make a big donation to the charity of your fundraising choice for it.

2) What's the public opinion of the old station? This really says a lot. If they LOVED the station (why did you change then), desecrating won't earn you points with the old crowd. BUT, let's say it was a very welcomed change.
a) inflate with helium, let go, first person to bring it back gets 1100 bucks and some sort of cool to-do with the new station. Maybe even help design a new logo (but you've probably already got one, huh).

b) Donate it to the homeless for shelter

c) Fill it with gallons and gallons of Pepsi, & drop 10 packs of Mentos in. Launched to moon. No problem.

d) Do the EBAY thing, except just cut out the old logo & auction IT off (charity focus, website driven-- keep it low key).

e) Throw it away and move forward.

d) Get a NEW inflatable & puppet a battle between the old & new in the streets of downtown a la Godzirra. New one wins.

Actually, selling them at a charity auction ain't such a bad idea. I remember when Soldier Field in Chicago ditched the Astroturf and went back to natural grass they sold off framed pieces of the plastic sod for charity. Hey, even if they fetch just a few bucks for a good cause, it beats throwing them in the dumpster. Although, when they were still being used, I thought about doing that all the time anyway.

I gave one I had to the local ham radio club with the understanding that they would take it to Sign Pro (company that letters these things), and have our letters stripped off. Then take the deduction on the taxes for a contribution to a non profit.

They use them to get their antenna wires up in the air.