Cartoon Network Viral Effort Creates Boston Furor
A campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the hit Adult Swim show on Cartoon Network, caused a tremendous scare in Boston yesterday, which lead to the shutdown of major highways and roads. The viral marketing campaign became a security issue when 9 devices, which were part of the outdoor marketing campaign, were found. Ed Davis, Boston Police Commissioner, said the sections of the Charles River were closed, including parts of Interstate 93 and the Longfellow Bridge, a hospital was forcibly evacuated and other incidents kept officers scrambling across the city in the wake of the devices being found.
Boston officials thought the devices to be a bomb threat and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said that “I think we are all relieved that the devices found so far are hoax devices”. The devise were actually magnetic lights that have been part of a campaign across 10 cities, including Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.
Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting made an official statement about the incident stating, “They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities. They have been in place for two to three weeks… We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger.” Despite the apology, Boston mayor, Thomas Menino states that the incident is serious and could face serious punishment, even jail time. Others like Emily LaGrassa, a spokeswoman for Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley state that “at this time, our office is involved with an investigation with other federal and state authorities to determine if any criminal charges should be filed and, if so, against whom.”
Subway services were temporarily interrupted along with the closing of three main bridges connecting Cambridge, Mass., to Boston, Storrow Drive, I-93 and the Massachusetts Turnpike. Charles River had also been blocked for precautionary measures.
Today, Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, the pair behind the publicity stunt, were released on $2,500 cash bond after each pleaded not guilty to placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct for a device found yesterday. They waved and smiled as they greeted people in court, according to MSNBC.
Reader Comments.
Scary times that we live in.
Note to self: make sure that guerilla marketing tactics do not wind up on the 5 o’clock news…hey…wait a second…isn’t that what we want?
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