February 1, 2007 6:10 AM

OOPS...our bad....

Arrest Made After ‘Suspicious Packages’ Paralyzed Boston as Part of Cartoon Network Marketing Campaign

BOSTON ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ More than 10 blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. The devices depict a character making an obscene gesture. Boston police said Wednesday night that one person had been arrested, and authorities scheduled a news conference later in the evening to provide details. Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were sent in before authorities declared the devices were harmless….”It’s a hoax ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ and it’s not funny,” said Gov. Deval Patrick, who said he will speak to the state’s attorney general “about what recourse we may have.”

Hey, I’ve got a GREAT idea. Let’s leave some circuit boards with all sorts of blinking lights and $#!& lying around town. It’ll be great! Kids will find them, we’ll generate all sorts of buzz, and maybe even some free press!!

Uh, yeah…but you left out the “And then we’ll be hauled off to jail for being complete DUMB@$$E$….” part. Jeebus, what pinheaded marketing school dropout came up with this beauty? And will he (or she) be eligible for probation any time soon?

I don’t possess the vocabulary necessary to sufficiently express how phenomenally stoopid this idea was. Poorly conceived, poorly thought-out, and poorly executed, it’s difficult to believe that someone probably making upwards of six figures actually thought this would be a neato thing to do. Right; the only people who would recognize the significance of the boards are drunken college students. The adults involved in this escapade had no idea what in the Hell was going on.

What I really want to know, though, is what was it that set Boston off? This marketing campaign was also taking place in nine other cities, none of whom apparently found anything alarming about it.

Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

“They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger.”

A talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball. Great…so who’s the meatball now, Kimosabe??

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 1, 2007 6:10 AM.

Time to polish the King's helmet, Mr. Beck.... was the previous entry in this blog.

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