Was Turner Broadcasting’s guerilla marketing campaign for “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” ill conceived? Yes.
Was the terror scare that shut down part of
I just can’t get past the point that these things were up for two weeks without anyone noticing or caring or that they didn’t raise any alarms in the other nine major cities where they were placed.
By the way, the best coverage of this oddball story has been on Lost Remote. They were the first to make the “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” connection and were the first place I saw with a link to the video of the two stoners that got arrested placing the signs around town. They’ve been all over this.
(Thanks, Pat, for the picture.)
The main stoner is from the town we live in, great. Also here is a better logo for the BPD
ReplyDeletehttp://boingboing.net/images/BostonPoliceBombSquad1.png
I don't agree with you that it was a overreaction on the part of local, state and federal authorities. Remember, we are now a post 9/11 world. Can you imagine the public reaction if Authorities didn't use caution and shut down the bridges, and they were live bombs...and they exploded killing and wounding people? Yes, this was a Hoax, but the Authorities did not know that and they took every precaution. It makes me feel good that they are actually doing their jobs. Let's just hope the Accountants do their job and bill every penny to Turner Broadcasting.
ReplyDeleteBy definition, if it was a hoax that would mean Turner deliberately set out to make people think the devices were bombs. Good luck proving that.
ReplyDeleteThis wasn't a hoax. It was a colossal misunderstanding.
Ok poor choice of words...You're right, it wasn't a hoax and Turner should have notified Authorities prior to putting up the boxes. Regardless my point is that the Authorities did not overreact. Put yourself in their shoes and try to think about what they were thinking at the time. Prior to 9/11 nobody ever thought a plane would be used a missle and guess what, it was. So when Authorities see objects in odd places on a bridge they are going to think of the worst case scinario. Lets get people off the bridge now and take a look. They were thinking safety. How can that be a overreaction??
ReplyDeleteFrom the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "To us, they're so obviously not suspicious," said King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart. "They're not suspicious devices or packages. We don't consider them dangerous."
ReplyDeleteRead the whole article here.
After they water cannoned the first one to pieces they should have looked at the stupid thing. But no...they let the public go crazy. They over reacted, they had their fingers on the trigger and pulled it.
ReplyDeleteYou guys honestly think they close transportation down on a wim? Wow, Obviously you don't have a clue how the transportation and public safety agencies work.
ReplyDeleteAs the old saying goes: Damnd if you do and damnd if you don't.
You are absolutely correct on this one Roon. Hard to imagine terrorists planting bombs in places and in ways that would attract people's attention.
ReplyDeleteAaron, these devices were planted in nine other cities. Only in Boston did officials hyperventilate.
I am beginning to think that some of Boston's officials used this incident to get their names in the national news.