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.