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General Discussion => WHATEVER => Topic started by: mikefork on January 31, 2007, 04:36:10 PM
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Marketing ploy by TV network leads to Boston bomb scare
BOSTON -- More than 10 blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. The devices depict a character giving the finger.
Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were sent in before authorities declared the devices were harmless.
"It's a hoax -- and it's not funny," said Gov. Deval Patrick, who said he'll speak to the state's attorney general "about what recourse we may have."
Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.
"The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger," Turner said in a statement. It said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company said.
Mayor Thomas Menino said he'll seek a stiff penalty against those responsible.
"I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents," the mayor said in a statement.
Menino spokeswoman Meaghan Maher later clarified, "that would include any criminal or civil action." Boston Police would not comment on any potential charges.
The marketing company responsible for the campaign, Interference Inc., had no immediate comment. A woman who answered the phone at the New York-based firm's offices on Wednesday afternoon said the firm's CEO was out of town and would not be able to comment until Thursday.
Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke praised Boston authorities for sharing their knowledge quickly with Washington officials and the public.
"Hoaxes are a tremendous burden on local law enforcement and counter-terrorism resources and there's absolutely no place for them in a post-9/11 world," Knocke said.
Authorities said some of the objects looked like circuit boards or had wires hanging from them.
The first device was found at a subway and bus station underneath Interstate 93, forcing the shutdown of the station and the highway.
Later, police said four calls, all around 1 p.m., reported devices at the Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, both of which span the Charles River, at a Boston street corner and at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.
The package near the Boston University bridge was found attached to a structure beneath the span, authorities said.
Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge was briefly suspended, and Storrow Drive was closed as well. A similar device was found on a support beam at Fenway Park, and another nearby.
Wanda Higgins, a 47-year-old Weymouth resident and a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, heard about the threat as she watched television news coverage while preparing to leave work at 4 p.m.
"I saw the bomb squad guys carrying a paper bag with their bare hands," Higgins said. "I knew it couldn't be too serious."
Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network were left with several publicists.
"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of the Adult Swim late-night block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.
The cartoon also includes two trouble-making, 1980s-graphic-like characters called "mooninites," named Ignignokt and Err -- who were pictured on the suspicious devices. They are known for making the obscene hand gesture depicted on the devices.
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(http://news.bostonherald.com/galleries/images/158795_013107bombhoaxmg02.jpg)
absolute genius
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Adult Swim is notorious for doing promotional stuff like this. I just can't believe people actually thought they were bombs. I guess it worked though. They got more promotion than they could have ever thought of because of this.
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the terrorists have won
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would've been a great day to skate town.....
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Adult Swim is notorious for doing promotional stuff like this. I just can't believe people actually thought they were bombs. I guess it worked though. They got more promotion than they could have ever thought of because of this.
its funny because they were reporting it on cnn all day long and athf is owned by the same parent company which equals free publicity. it sucks for the two dudes who put up the 34 signs though because for putting up fake bombs/explosives its a five year sentence in a maximum security prison for EACH device. odds are though they will get off with a slap on the wrists while the gov. goes after the parent company. still sucks for those two dudes though because now everyone in boston/outside of boston knows who they are and hate them esspecially the people on all the train lines that got shut down, people on the highways, and people having to go to the hospital for whatever reason whether its visitng someone or if they have an emergency. for the bomb squad and all the cops o be there it cost mass. $500,000 in overtime pay
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you'd think they got permits before installing these things all over town. If only to avoid the devices from being taken down prematurely.
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you'd think they got permits before installing these things all over town. If only to avoid the devices from being taken down prematurely.
it was a guerilla ad campaign
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thats tight
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you'd think they got permits before installing these things all over town. If only to avoid the devices from being taken down prematurely.
slapping a magnetic magnetic light bright onto something metal hardly constitutes 'installing'.
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er, i guess you're right.
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Wow, I can't believe that shit happened.
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the terrorists have won
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That's the best live interview I think I've ever seen
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Adult Swim is notorious for doing promotional stuff like this. I just can't believe people actually thought they were bombs. I guess it worked though. They got more promotion than they could have ever thought of because of this.
That's what's so dumb. They didn't make fake explosives, they made posters. It's not their fault someone let their paranoia and imagination run wild. The worst offense they should get is vandalism.
And I'm really happy those two aren't taking this seriously at all.
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Boston just wants to sue Turner so they can get some money to fix the "big dig".
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Boston just wants to sue Turner so they can get some money to fix the "big dig".
sad but true which is why they are going to let these guys off with a slap on the wrist and go after t.t but they are sepreated by a minimum of five degrees
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http://paranoidboston.ytmnd.com/
just found hat and thought it was pretty good
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx2ytr2Oyv4
The 2 dudes who made those signs were taking the matter very seriously.
ohh man, thats some future wolf shit right there
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(http://freeridevideo.com/nahc4/seren/files/1170276767764.jpg)
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this shit is so fucking dumb... it seems like a bad sitcom plot. the whole world is laughing at us right now.
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god these comments off youtube are ridiculous
"these two spoiled immature punks, during this interview, were basically spitting on the graves of all the victums of 9/11, and all the soldiers and marines who have fought and died in iraq and afghanistan in our war on terrorism- so they can gain publicity for themselves. terrorism today is very real. and these boys are obviously not dealing with reality."
"Guys like this shud face the Firing Squad...i.e. a shit-faced Cheney waving his Mossberg at 'em from 200 yards.... "
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I fucking hate people.
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I fucking hate people.
...other than bob saget.
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Obviously
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The terrorist have won, fuck Americans, we are a bunch of paranoid spoiled pieces of shit. I am so sick of people, what is that Tool song, praying for the flood to wash it all away or something like that.
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The terrorist have won, fuck Americans, we are a bunch of paranoid spoiled pieces of shit. I am so sick of people, what is that Tool song, praying for the flood to wash it all away or something like that.
YOU are a living, breathing Tool song, you fucking faggot.
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the whole word is lol at boston
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The terrorist have won, fuck Americans, we are a bunch of paranoid spoiled pieces of shit. I am so sick of people, what is that Tool song, praying for the flood to wash it all away or something like that.
good song. based off of a bill hicks stand up routine about LA getting flushed into arizona bay. if you don't know who bill hicks is, watch one of his specials on Google video, i guarantee its not a waste of time.
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http://paranoidboston.ytmnd.com/
just found hat and thought it was pretty good
That made me lol, does anyone know the name of the song?
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The terrorist have won, fuck Americans, we are a bunch of paranoid spoiled pieces of shit. I am so sick of people, what is that Tool song, praying for the flood to wash it all away or something like that.
YOU are a living, breathing Tool song, you fucking faggot.
wow how original, you must be like really smart in real life.
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http://www.dyewell.com/saveboston/
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http://www.dyewell.com/saveboston/
i got the hipster hair cut first try!!
fuck dude, paak da caa!
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http://www.dyewell.com/saveboston/
i got the hipster hair cut first try!!
fuck dude, paak da caa!
this is too good. it actually sounds like the meat-heads in the city. i am not going to lie i have a slight boston accent but not as much as in here
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Makes me sad to say that I live in Massachusetts. These guys are me heros
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http://cgi.ebay.com/IRV-MOONINITE-AQUA-TEEN-HUNGER-FORCE-SIGN_W0QQitemZ300077739702QQihZ020QQcategoryZ201QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
its a shame i didn't snatch the one i saw