Posted on 02/01/2007 3:16:22 AM PST by billorites
A furious Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed yesterday to throw the book at the masterminds behind a guerrilla marketing campaign gone amok that plunged the city into bomb-scare pandemonium and blew nearly $1 million in police overtime and other costs.
As city and state attorneys laid groundwork for criminal charges and lawsuits, cops seized 27-year-old Arlington multimedia artist Peter Berdovsky, who posted film on his Web site boasting that he and friends planted the battery-wired devices, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown. Both were jailed overnight on charges of placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.
“This is outrageous activity to get publicity for a failing show,” said Menino, referring to the battery-operated light-up ads for the Cartoon Network’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” which sparked at least nine bomb scares in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville.
Menino promised to sue Turner Broadcasting Co., the Cartoon Network’s parent company, and criminally prosecute Berdovsky and anyone else responsible for the devices, and to petition the FCC to pull the network’s license.
Attorney General Martha Coakley was put in charge of the case and said the companies behind the promotion would be investigated. She said the felony charge of planting a hoax device could be broad enough to allow prosecution even if the stunt’s sponsors did not intend a panic.
“To do this kind of placement of devices the way it was, an individual had to know or should have that it was going to create the kind of panic it did,” Coakley said last night during a press conference.
Panic was the order of the day in Boston as city, state and federal investigators, police and bomb units raced through the city seeking 38 of the devices, in some cases destroying them as a precaution.
Shutdowns affected Storrow and Memorial drives, the Longfellow and Boston University bridges and Interstate 93, while extra Coast Guard patrols were seen at Rowes Wharf and at commuter ferries.
“I cannot state strongly enough the seriousness of this offense,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley. “Commerce was disrupted, transportation routes were paralyzed, residents were stranded, relatives across the nation were in fear for their loved ones here in the city of Boston.”
In a statement, Turner Broadcasting said the light-emitting devices pose no danger and are part of a 10-city outdoor marketing campaign for the cartoon program. A Boston police spokesman said the company did not have permits to place the signs in the city.
“We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger,” the Turner statment said.
All told, the cost of extra police and activating the city’s anti-terror command center will cost Boston $800,000 to $1 million in damages, an angry Menino estimated.
Gov. Deval Patrick said he was not impressed by the apology from Turner Broadcasting.“I am deeply dismayed to learn that the devices are a part of a marketing campaign. This stunt has caused considerable disruption and anxiety in our community,” he said.
The bomb scare reports began about 8 a.m. when a MBTA worker reported a package with wires and tubes protruding from it that was stuck on a steel girder under Interstate 93 at Sullivan Square Station in Charlestown. The devices, featuring characters with raised middle fingers, had magnetic backs and were affixed to metal.
The reports spread throughout the day to the Boston University and Longfellow bridges, Downtown Crossing, the intersection of Stuart Street and Columbus Avenue, the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Memorial Drive in Cambridge, the McCarthy Overpass on the McGrath O’Brien Highway in Somerville and at a comic book store in Brighton.
The discovery of two more devices last night at the Massachusetts College of Art prompted another brief evacuation. By the end of the day, investigators had recovered 14 of the 38 devices believed to be placed in the Boston area and urged the public to report the whereabouts of others.
Just after three p.m., two bomb-sniffing dogs swept through City Hall, spending 16 minutes in Menino’s office. “It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this irresponsible marketing scheme,” Menino said.
Could be, Colonel. But the DA is going to be under tremendous pressure from Mayor Menino et al, who have vowed that there will be "no mercy". If the case goes to trial, the judge is really going to have to slap the DA hard to get him to stop.
Yep. And for a prosecuter, nothing hits harder than the words "case dismissed with prejudice."
Regards,
Col Sanders
Jeez…
Regards,
Col Sanders
Moreover these guys were filming as they placed these signs in plain view around Boston streets the night before.
More like ten days before.
"More like ten days before."
Say it ain't so?
Blame the advertisers for a city full of morons. Typical.
But so long as Joe Biden is still in politics the identification won't be complete.
I don't enjoy watching an incompetent police force and mayor use scapegoats to make up for their idiocy. And they will not be shafted, becuase as I have said, they are guilt of littering. Yes in post 9/11 world it was not smart to put cartoon thingys in public with wires, but idicoy has not never been in short supply.
It's even worse than I imagined. Their standing has been upgraded from incompetent boobs to IDIOTS!
Only if you're a 200 proof moron.
Ya because, people who plant bombs really, really, REALLY want them to be discovered before they are able to be detonated. They never try to disguise the bombs.
Are you really Mayor Menino's spokesman?
But they were not really bombs, silly.
Perhaps I should have been more clear. My contention is that they were designed to provoke a police response, that would get Aqua Teen Hunger Force front page positioning.
In that sense, they succeeded spectacularly.
If you feel the need to denigrate the Boston Police Force in order to explain why they were spectacularly successful, have at it. No skin off my nose. I am just saying they achieved what they were designed to achieve.
It took three weeks for that provoked police response, and only occured in one city out of nearly a dozen.
I'd hardly call that succeeding spectacularly if their intent was to create a bomb hoax.
Whoever is in charge of the BPD bomb squad needs to be replaced.
The intent was to get you and me and about a Hundred Million other people to know about Aqua Teen Hunger Force. If you don't call this a success, you have very high standards for advertising efficiency.
That was not your initial argument:
My contention is that they were designed to provoke a police response, that would get Aqua Teen Hunger Force front page positioning.
The fact that the police response greatly multiplied the exposure was just added bonus (well worth the payoff that TBS is handing to Boston officials to make them feel better for making fools of themselves).
What the ad campaign was designed to do was create a buzz on the street for those in 'the know'. And judging from the previous couple weeks of YouTube responses to the lite-brite mooninites, it was working as designed.
And then... a notoriously incompetent city government got involved.
Ohh and BTW, had they been bombs, they would have gone off about 2 weeks ago.
Provoking the police response was the way to get the Aqua Teen Hunger Force known. Is this too hard to understand?
Cute little in-the-know advertising will only get you so far. Being on the front page of every paper and the top of every newscast is a much more effective way to communicate.
So, to spell it out for you, they were designed to provoke a police response. The purpose of doing so was to create a public awareness of Aqua Teen Hunger Force through the ensuing media stories about the police response. That argument has not changed.
And, as I said, they succeeded brilliantly.
Nonsense. They were designed to have people who don't know the series ask, WTF, and those that do know the series to get a chuckle.
Of all the cities, and over 3 weeks, and only the ninnies in Bahhhston got their panties in a wad.
I worry about McGee, he has a crappy attitude.
I'm sure the Mooninites were pleased.
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