Posted on 01/31/2007 6:45:54 PM PST by tobyhill
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. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.
Boston police said Wednesday night that one person had been arrested, and authorities scheduled a news conference to provide details.
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, issued a few hours after reports of the first devices came in.
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. As soon as the company realized the problem, it said, law enforcement officials were told of their locations in all 10 cities.
The marketing firm that put them up has been ordered to remove them immediately, said Phil Kent, Turner chairman.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
LOL. I can't wait to hear more about that one.
And the defense will point out that 10 other cities **including NYC** did not react in a blind panic.
The only "crime" for which there is guilt here is "making the cops and politicians look like blithering idiots".
Adult Swim is a tiny subsidiary of Cartoon Network which is a tiny subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting...
I know people love the mental image of an evil Ted Turner rubbing his hands dreaming up marketing schemes where he plants hoax terrorist bombs but the reality is I doubt Turner has even heard of the show and I'm fairly sure he didn't have the foggiest idea about the marketing scheme.
The only real bombs made by Turner Broadcast Company are their shows ;-)
No for two reasons. One, they were not trying to incite anything. This publicity campaign had been running for several weeks elsewhere. Two, they cannot be blamed for others' stupidity
IQ = 2.5
And you've seen ATHF?
They probably can get them on some misdemeanor charge for hanging them on public property without a permit if they really want to.
Wad.
He's a Meatwad.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. That is SWEEEEET!
What kind of corporate citizen litters public places with cartoon characters flipping birds?
Is Ted Turner still the boss?
Yeah, on the Adult Swim boards people were predicting that Meatwad would be incorrectly called a Meatball all over the media.
No. Whomever did this has a real low one.
Sheesh. Everybody's dissin' the Wad.
2-3 weeks in place. Wow that's a crack team of folks we have protecting us from crazy "bombs".
To quote from Carl, a character on the show: "Oh.. good."
Look anything like a bomb?
perfect
What a crock, this appears to be a ginned-up hysterical reaction to nothing more than a harmless advertising stunt. Makes Bean Town authorities look like a bunch of Master Shakes. Forget Turner, they oughtta sue themselves for damages....
Meatwad rules! (Yeah, I AM as old as my tagline suggests, and wifey and I never miss an episode if we can help it)
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