Thursday's Seattle P.I. featured an interesting piece on radio stickers.

KVI P.D. Dennis Kelly says window and bumper stickers may be even more effective now since "we spend hours stuck in traffic compared to what we spent 30 years ago."

The radio station bumper sticker has been around long enough that there are now collectors of such items, complete with Web pages displaying their collections.

Read the entire article and see below what else is going on in Seattle Radio, plus check out the current AM & FM Radio frequency line up of stations with formats listed:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/305507_radiobeat01.html

I would not paste a sticker to the outside of my rig and risk damaging the paint to remove it later. Also the paint won't fade under the sticker and when removed later on you have a nasty spot were it was. I like the static window clings you put on the inside of the glass. No Muss no Fuss to put on, move, or remove. Hell I just lucked out and got some really great ones from my favorite station. Radio stations should switch from the traditional glue on's to the magnetic variaty....yes more expensive but more people would be apt to fly those as they feel the same way I do about pasting stickers on their cars!

My Two Cents

Basically this story is saying "people still like radio station stickers"... duh!
Most adhesives on bumper stickers are so strong that they'll damage your paint. Most of them peel off fairly easily, but stick well enough that they'll stay on. Plus, I've never heard of a car being devalued for having a sticker on it. When I was selling cars, I never devalued a trade in for having stickers.
As for the inside window static clings... with tinting, on all windows but the windshield, being so common, I would think those would become less visible. Just a thought.

The magnetic thing makes the most sense!

...until somebody likes it more than you do!

Of course, this could end up being a fun game! Do a "steal this sticker!" bit. Station KXXX puts out mag stickers with numbers on them. Make getting new stickers fairly easy, so nobody is too upset about their sticker moving on them.

In a very real sense, they then become public stickers!

This behaviour is announced, and the "yes, you can steal this sticker!" bit is printed on the actual mag sticker, to make it clear how these actually work.

Use the numbers for goofy games, like having three in sequence on your car for a win! --or make buddy stickers where if they are found together, a photo and or visit to a remote would trigger a win that makes sense in the buddy context.

Where is sticker #XXX today?

Cover the station vehicle with mag stickers, all numbered in sequence, then drive around and let people "steal" their sticker of choice! Announce a winner from the pool of stickers pulled.

I'm not sure this would be bad idea, it just would take some thought and planning to execute. The value add fun 'n games could go on a long time.

Release different imaging on the stickers as well. Same numbers, but with different colors and or elements.

Who knows, we may see those stickers all over the place and no real harm would be done as they are mag stickers, so they can just be moved if they are an issue.

Tie this in with the geocaching bit and have a discussion forum for the sticker issues! People can stick their sticker somewhere, publish location data, then let others find it and move it and tell their stories!

First one to stick their sticker somewhere contest?

Ok, so legal will put the nix on this stuff. I think it would be fun! Seriously, how much real harm can come from a fricking mag sticker?

Good ideas... the only issue I can see from that is the concept of people messing with other people's cars. Some might not like that.

...well, they can just not put a "steal this sticker!" on their car right? If one ends up there, just peel it off and stick it, or stuff it, somewhere else!

I'm sure the technology has improved in the past 30 years to make stickers a little more clean when removed (or maybe not!), but I always thought the late, great 62KGW utilized window stickers because they had to be applied a certain way (on a window), were more visible and held up much better than a bumper sticker.

To the original post...

Seattle newspapers seem to cover local radio/tv much more than the Oregonian. Not just recently, but for years. Why? Is the "O" paranoid about the competition?

Some put so many stickers on the back of their car, they look rediculous! Often in the mush of stickers around here is a Kboo sticker along with other many leftist simplistic slogans. Does Kboo give out prizes?
I would think you need to have a contest to go with the stickers, as an incentive for people to put them on their car. Problem with the "stealing" idea, it someone is sure to call 911 if they see somebody suspiciously prowling around cars.

The window is the best place for a sticker. When you want to remove it, get a razor out and scrape it off. Adhesives and stickers are far more advanced than they were in the 70's when I hounded my parents to put a Y-100 sticker on their car (they wouldn't).

There are issues with magnetic decals. Dust and fine grit can accumulate under the magnet and slowly abrade the paint. Unless you remove the decal every couple of weeks and rinse the dust off you can damage the finish permanently.

I would put an outside sticker on a windshield. As you say they can be removed fairly easy with no damage to the vehicle. I would still use the magnets though as I do wash my rig every 2 weeks at least.

TIP:
When removing any glue on stickers. Get a 1500 watt hair dryer and heat up the sticker. Try and peel up one corner and proceed slowly to remove it up while keeping the hair dryer running. This will warm up the glue to a point where it will release it's hold and allow you to peel it off without the need to scrape it off damaging the paint! This will work on stickers applied to windows and most surfaces. There may be a little glue residue to cleanup afterwards but that is pretty easy to get rid of!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Heloise!

LOL!!

(the hair dryer bit does work great though.) It's also very useful for preserving the "if this is removed, warranty is void" stickers as well!

HA HA!

Only inside-window stickers for me. I prefer the mirror-image diecut type, they look good on the inside of the window. Otherwise I just hang the sticker on the inside with a few pieces of tape. I won't put adhesive stickers on my paint.

Inside-window stickers have a cleaner appearance than something stuck on a surface, and make a somewhat collegiate impression, due to the long popularity of such window decals. (I recall seeing an NPR decal in their early days.)

This also averts the image problem of one's stickers showing up in inappropriate places (stop signs, etc.).

They can be run off on an inkjet (in mirror-image). The price per piece is a bit steep, but may be feasible for prototyping/testing or small customized or immediate promotion runs. The main problem is designing around the lack of white ink. (Not wishing to use yellow, I settled for the brightest blue I could get.)

An audience who favors deeply tinted glass won't be able to use inside-window stickers, however. (But some might pay to obtain a flashing LED panel to display.) (Hey, connect it to RDS and show "what's playing"!)

Why don't KBOO stickers work? Because bicycles don't have bumpers. (So-ree!)

The RBDS thing would work great on Entercom stations but would do nothing for CBS stations! Entercom uses both RBDS PS (Program Service) and RT (Radio Text) signals. I checked this a while back in a different thread and found CBS barely use PS and no RT signal and I don't remember the results from clear channel stations...but then who cares!