The point is not to fool the cops into thinking it is a bomb. The point it to cause a massive police response and get your little viral marketing campaign some front page position. Mission Accomplished.
What kind of bomb could this hold?
Not that it matters, but it could hold a big enough charge to blow your hands off when you try to remove it.
What idiot terrorist would put bright lights on it.
None. That's not the point. The point is to attract attention to your silly little viral marketing campaign. That's what the bright flashing lights are for.
And why did a dozen other cities not see it as a treat.
You don't know whether they did or not. I would wager that a fair number of these things were removed in other cities, as well. The only difference being that nobody hit the Big Red Button in those cities.
Why did Bosten not read their mail?
You know how much mail the City of Boston gets every day? And how much of that gets immediately round-filed? If you want to notify the city you are going to put up signs, the appropriate way to do that is to apply for and receive a permit, before putting up your signs.
Even if they didn't why did they not send just one bomb squad to the first one and make a determination, instead of making an intergalatic case of this?
It is my understanding that the first device was found in an area that required shutting down I-92 as a precaution. Once that happens, it's off to the races. You can unpress the Big Red Button.
Only an idiot would think that the Boston police would act as the idiot did.
I think you are wrong in this. This was entirely forseeable. Furthermore, I would contend that the police response was the whole point. What is the purpose of a viral marketing campaign that nobody sees? Now the whole wide world knows about this stupid cartoon.
One thing I'll grant, is that it's not unreasonable for someone to call the thing in, esp. if it's stuck under a bridge. But, let me give you a real life example:
I was deployed to Kuwait and my navy unit guarded the two harbors that we use to ship supplies up to Iraq from USS Cole type attacks. One day we found a 55 gallon drum floating in the water. Of course we were going to investigate it. It could be a bomb. But it would be the height of stupidity to lock down the base send forces screaming all over hither and yon and then when it was all over and found to be nothing, charge some poor Haji who may have pushed the drum over the side of his fishing boat.
Yes, there is a threat to terrorist attacks and yes it's smart for citizens to call in suspicious objects, but the government has to react rationally. I can even accept the overreaction, but not charging the marketers after the fact (with a felony no less).
If some forgetful person left his suitcase in a subway terminal, would it makes sense to charge him if the bomb squad was called out?
I certainly wouldn't have seen it, but my opinion on this whole affair is well-established by now.
What is the purpose of a viral marketing campaign that nobody sees? Now the whole wide world knows about this stupid cartoon.
But people did see it. There have been reports of finding these things weeks ago, and pictures posted to blogs and photo sharing sites like flickr. The site I linked to in my last post has been there for two weeks. They invested only pocket change in this project, and I think the returns they had been getting were about what they expected -- especially since the movie isn't even due out until March. You don't roll out your big advertising for a movie until closer to the release date, you just put out teasers for the fans. Now Boston and the 24-hour news cycle have boosted them into the stratosphere.
Exactly! Just one bomb squad police could have determined this was not a threat in a minute. Only idiots push the big red button.