Gentlemen, BEHOLD!

[Coffee]

It's a publicity stunt!

BOSTON (AP) -- In nine cities across the country, blinking electronic signs displaying a profane, boxy-looking cartoon character caused barely a stir.

But in Boston, the signs - some with protruding wires - sent a wave of panic across the city, bringing out bomb squads and prompting officials to shut down highways, bridges and part of the Charles River.

Something that may have been amusing in other cities was not funny to authorities here, the city that served as the base for the hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. Officials defended their reaction Thursday even as two men charged in the case, and some residents, mocked the response as overblown.

Young Bostonians familiar with the unconventional marketing tactics used by many companies tended to see the city's reaction as unmitigated hysteria.

Tracy O'Connor, 34, a retail manager, called the police response "silly and insane," contrasting it with that in other cities where no one reported concerns about the devices - an advertising gimmick for the Cartoon Network show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."

"We're the laughing stock," she said.

Public safety officials and a large segment of Boston's older generation condemned the publicity campaign as unthinkable in today's post-9/11 world.

"Just a little over a mile away from the placement of the first device, a group of terrorists boarded airplanes and launched an attack on New York City," police Commissioner Edward Davis said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"The city clearly did not overreact. Had we taken any other steps, we would have been endangering the public," he said.

Davis said that as calls were coming in about the electronic signs in rapid succession Wednesday afternoon, police also received reports of two devices that resembled pipe bombs and had a confirmed report of a man walking down the hallways of New England Medical Center making a rambling speech about "God getting us today" and "This would be a sorry day."

Davis, who took his job in December, said he didn't know of any calls coming in to the Boston 911 line.

Officials found 38 blinking electronic signs on bridges, a subway station, a hospital, Fenway Park, and other high-profile spots in and around the city.

In New York, officers went to various locations and found only two of the devices - both attached to a highway overpass. Police said it did not appear it was targeting any landmarks such as the subway, Empire State Building or Brooklyn Bridge.

"People can be smug and say all you have to do is look at this and know this is not an explosive device, but the truth of the matter is that you can't tell what it is until it's disrupted," Davis said.

Officials have vowed to hold responsible Turner Broadcasting Inc., the parent company of the Cartoon Network, which airs the series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

Two men who authorities say were paid to place the devices around the city pleaded not guilty Thursday to placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct. Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, were released on $2,500 cash bond - apparently amused by the situation, even though they face up to five years in prison.

They met reporters and TV cameras and launched into a nonsensical discussion of hair styles of the 1970s. As they walked off, Berdovsky gave a more serious comment.

"We need some time to really sort things out and, you know, figure out our response to this situation in other ways than talking about hair," Berdovsky said.

Late Thursday, Berdovsky released a statement through a Boston law firm. It said he "never imagined" the devices would be perceived as dangerous and he never intended to do anything to frighten the community.

"I regret that this incident has created such anguish and disruption for the residents and law enforcement officers of this city," the statement said.

The devices didn't prompt calls of concern in any of the nine other cities where Turner said the devices were placed. Police in the other cities fanned out to find and remove them after Boston's scare.

Some enterprising people got to the devices before police: At least seven were for sale Thursday afternoon on the Internet auction site eBay, ranging in price from $500 to $2,100.

Most of Boston's colleagues in law enforcement in the other cities chose their words carefully.

"I wouldn't want to give my opinion but in today's world it's better safe than sorry. Someone (in Boston) clearly thought there was a threat," Atlanta police Officer Joe Cobb said.

In the Seattle area, authorities thought the devices were "obviously not suspicious."

"In this day and age, whenever anything remotely suspicious shows up, people get concerned - and that's good," King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said. "However, people don't need to be concerned about this. These are cartoon characters giving the finger."

Tobe Berkowitz, an advertising professor at Boston University, said it's easy to understand why there is a generational gap between the way the target audience for the promotional campaign reacted and the way older Bostonians reacted.

"For people who are hip and live in the world of blogs and all sorts of cool alternative media, it's one thing," he said. "But for the rest of us ... they don't get it as a marketing or a clever event, they see it as a huge disruption of their lives."

The publicity campaign was conceived by the Adult Swim marketing department and approved by the head of the Cartoon Network, Turner spokeswoman Shirley Powell said Thursday. She said the devices had been up for two weeks around the country and the network had not received any calls about them.

"We were simply promoting a TV show," she said. "If we had ever perceived this to be something threatening safety, we would never have proceeded with it."

The network told the marketing company to decide where the devices should be placed, with the mandate they should be in places likely to be seen by young men. Adult Swim's target audience is men aged 18 to 24.

The marketing company that placed the signs, Interference Inc. of New York City, did not return calls seeking comment and its offices were closed Thursday.

Link

 

[GrnMarvl14]

"It had a very sinister appearance," [Attorney General Martha] Coakley told reporters. "It had a battery behind it, and wires."

Fear the latest tool of terrorism: The Lite Brite.

 

[Nando]

Aqua Teen Hunger Force rules.

 

[Habunake]

I hear people who think Adult Swim will get cancelled because of this. X(

 

[GrnMarvl14]

Because the government view neon signs as threats? And, as such, that which they represent must be expunged from society?

Only thing this means is better ratings.

 

[birdboy2000]

New Englander here. Live 20 minutes from Boston.

The reaction of our public officials of this was a total embarrassment to our commonwealth. This was completely ridiculous and the first time I felt ashamed to call myself a resident of Massachusetts.

 

[Turtle Tamer Kammy]

This seriously made me LOL. Mooninites for the win!!!

 

[Kazamatsuri]

Wow! News of this stunt just dropped my repect for the network by about 75% (if not more).

 

[Porygon]

Wow! News of this stunt just dropped my repect for the network by about 75% (if not more).

I really don't see any good reason to blame CN/AS for this. Other than they underestimated how easily shocked people are.

This event reminds me of something that happened about a year or so ago. People put cardboard boxes with designs like the coin boxes in the Super Mario games in a few areas in their city. They got the same sort of reaction there. :/

 

[Zeta]

Wow! News of this stunt just dropped my repect for the network by about 75% (if not more).

Why? They just put up glowing signs. It was the stupid authorities who were crapping their pants going "ANYTHING UNUSUAL IS THE WORK OF TERRORISTS" and "What is this cartoon thing you speak of?"

Morons. The whole idea of a bomb is that you're NOT supposed to notice it till it goes off. Bombs do not flash with little cartoon characters on them.

 

[Æsahættr]

Why? They just put up glowing signs. It was the stupid authorities who were crapping their pants going "ANYTHING UNUSUAL IS THE WORK OF TERRORISTS" and "What is this cartoon thing you speak of?"

Morons. The whole idea of a bomb is that you're NOT supposed to notice it till it goes off. Bombs do not flash with little cartoon characters on them.

^ Made me LOL QFT.

 

[Zak]

My mom told me about this... I'm still not back home, but wish I was there to experience it.

 

[Kazamatsuri]

I really don't see any good reason to blame CN/AS for this. Other than they underestimated how easily shocked people are.

Ok, maybe I was being harsh, but I still don't get WTF the execs were thinking. I mean, do they not remember what happened with Bill Mahr.

 

[birdboy2000]

They were thinking "No one's so stupid/paranoid as to mistake lite-brite for bombs, and if anyone was the cops would laugh it off for its sheer idiocy."

 

[Roses Ablaze]

Well the publicity stunt certainly worked, didn't it? People will remember this, at least for a while.

 

[bell02+]

I'm pretty sure it wasn't meant to be a publicity stunt. It was just mini bilboards to spark curiousity or thought on ATHF. (it was viral marketing strategy though) It just seems like the city of Boston is trying to spin it that way. The signs went up without a problem in other cities, it was just boston that thought it was some kind of bomb:drowsy:

Raid the Toys "R" Us! 'Dems terrorist factories in 'der (with their little childern and cute backwards letters)!

 

[Habunake]

And that "Jiraf"! Sounds like somekinda terrorist word!