Ok, we really need to talk about this Boston thing

hsmith · 02-01-2007, 12:10 PM

Two held after ad campaign triggers Boston bomb scare - CNN.com

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Authorities have arrested two men in connection with electronic light boards depicting a middle-finger-waving moon man that triggered repeated bomb scares around Boston on Wednesday and prompted the closure of bridges and a stretch of the Charles River.

Meanwhile, police and prosecutors vented their anger at Turner Broadcasting System Inc., the parent company of CNN, which said the battery-operated light boards were aimed at promoting the late-night Adult Swim cartoon "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."

Boston officials condemned Turner for not taking proper steps to end the bomb scares earlier and for not issuing an adequate apology to the city. (Watch how the scare unfolded Video)

Turner Broadcasting said in written statements the devices had been placed around Boston and nine other cities in recent weeks as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote the show.

"We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger," Phil Kent, CEO and chairman of Turner Broadcasting System Inc., said in one of two statements issued by the company.

"As soon as we realized that an element of the campaign was being mistaken for something potentially dangerous, appropriate law enforcement officials were notified and through federal law enforcement channels, we identified the specific locations of the advertisements in all 10 cities in which they are posted. We also directed the third-party marketing firm who posted the advertisements to take them down immediately."

Peter Berdovsky, 27, a freelance video artist from Arlington, Massachusetts, and Sean Stevens, 28, were facing charges of placing a hoax device in a way that results in panic, as well as one count of disorderly conduct, said Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. The hoax charge is a felony, she said. Both men were arrested Wednesday evening.

According to his Web site, Berdovsky is a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and a founding member of a video artists group called Glitch who goes by the nickname "Zebbler" and sings in a band called "Superfiction."

Authorities believe Berdovsky was "in the employ of other individuals" as part of the marketing campaign, Coakley said. "How exactly this was executed, we are still investigating." Berdovsky is scheduled for arraignment at 9 a.m. Thursday in Charlestown District Court.

Adult Swim shares channel space with Cartoon Network, another Turner enterprise, but the adult-themed network is a separate entity.

Wednesday evening, Cartoon Network was running a statement during commercial breaks, expressing deep regret for "the hardships experienced as a result of this incident."

The devices displayed a "Mooninite" -- an outer-space delinquent who makes frequent appearances on the cartoon -- greeting passersby with an upraised middle finger. But the discovery of nine of the light boards around Boston and its suburbs sent bomb squads scrambling throughout the day, snarling traffic and mass transit in one of the largest U.S. cities.

"It had a very sinister appearance," Coakley told reporters. "It had a battery behind it, and wires."

The statement from Kent said Turner Broadcasting deeply regrets "the hardships experienced as a result of this incident." (Read the full statement)
Mayor calls situation 'outrageous'

But Coakley, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and others said the statement offering an apology was not enough, and did not rule out criminal charges or a civil suit to recover the estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars it cost the city to respond to the bomb scares.

Menino told reporters he received a call from a Turner spokesperson about 9 p.m. but had not yet returned it. "I think the city deserves a call, not from a press person, but from somebody in the corporate structure of Turner," he said.

"I just think this is outrageous, what they've done ... It's all about corporate greed."

He and Coakley said Turner did not give authorities the locations of the devices and said they learned the devices were Turner's when the company sent a fax to City Hall at 5 p.m.

Officials believe there are 38 throughout the Boston area, and 14 had been recovered as of 9 p.m., Coakley said. "We heard nothing official from the people who could have resolved this earlier."

Some of the devices were placed on private property, she said, which "raises a lot of questions about, at the very least, the responsibility of anybody who would do this."

Asked about whether Massachusetts authorities would have the jurisdiction to arrest people out of state, Coakley said she believed they would if the offenses took place in Massachusetts. Turner Broadcasting's headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis called it "unconscionable" that the marketing campaign was executed in a post 9/11 era. "It's a foolish prank on the part of Turner Broadcasting," he said. "In the environment nowadays ... we really have to look at the motivation of the company here and why this happened."

Earlier, Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll called Wednesday's incidents "a colossal waste of money."

The discovery of the light boards led state, local and federal authorities to close the Boston University and Longfellow Bridges and block boat traffic from the Charles River to Boston Harbor. In addition, the Pentagon said U.S. Northern Command was monitoring the situation from its headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but said none of its units were dispatched to assist.

The first device reported was at the Sullivan Square commuter rail station, near the suburb of Somerville, Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon, four other devices were reported -- near the Longfellow and Boston University bridges over the Charles, at New England Medical Center and near the intersection of Stuart and Columbus avenues in the city itself, and four more turned up over the course of the day.

Rep. Ed Markey, a Boston-area congressman, said, "Whoever thought this up needs to find another job."

"Scaring an entire region, tying up the T and major roadways, and forcing first responders to spend 12 hours chasing down trinkets instead of terrorists is marketing run amok," Markey, a Democrat, said in a written statement. "It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt."

Turner Broadcasting said the devices had been in place for two to three weeks in Boston; New York; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A Turner source said the displays were a component of a third-party advertising campaign conducted by a New York advertising firm, Interference Inc., which had no comment on the incident.

Ok, what the fucking shit is this?

10 years ago, the signs all would have been stolen by high school kids because they were funny. Now we are living in this totalitarian society where anything is a terrorist threat and anything is a bomb.

I mean seriously, is there one god damned person that can defend this? If someone was setting bombs around boson, they wouldn't make them flashy and bright, they would be inconspicuous and you wouldn't think anything of them as you walked past them.

6SpeedTA95 · 02-01-2007, 12:12 PM

I think these must have been fairly inconspicuous...the worst part about this is it took them something like two weeks to find them according to CNN

so if they were bombs they could have been detonated already...

Secondly how the F could they not tell the difference between a damned light board and a bomb?

Scrum · 02-01-2007, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by hsmith

Two held after ad campaign triggers Boston bomb scare - CNN.com

Ok, what the fucking shit is this?

10 years ago, the signs all would have been stolen by high school kids because they were funny. Now we are living in this totalitarian society where anything is a terrorist threat and anything is a bomb.

I mean seriously, is there one god damned person that can defend this? If someone was setting bombs around boson, they wouldn't make them flashy and bright, they would be inconspicuous and you wouldn't think anything of them as you walked past them.

This story is the funniest thing I have read in a while.

They have us so scared we are jumping at ads for cartoons now.

7960 · 02-01-2007, 12:14 PM

"totalitarian"?

sticking blinking lights with circuit boards on bridge beams is pretty fucking stupid. just because some people recognized it from the comic (I didn't) doens't mean the majority would. i'm not so sure a real crime was committed but i'm all for the originators reimbursing the city for the cost of removal.

lew · 02-01-2007, 12:15 PM

But the world is different post 9/11

AVengeance · 02-01-2007, 12:23 PM

If I were a terrorist, I'd order my bombs without the blinking lights.

Does anyone have pictures of these things?

Were they PAID advertisements (as in, the space they were on was rentable ad space) or were they completely out of place?

I'd like to see Ted Turner go up on Terror charges and sit in Club Gitmo for awhile. Just because I don't like him.

7960 · 02-01-2007, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by AVengeance

Were they PAID advertisements (as in, the space they were on was rentable ad space) or were they completely out of place?

They were anywhere...on bridge beams, on buildings... they were NOT in rentable space.

ballz2wallz · 02-01-2007, 01:00 PM

I was going to make a post about this too.

I agree with lew, things have changed since 9/11. We now live in a world where you have to be careful of the things you do, and consider the consequences of your actions. Surely that's true for any point in time one would be alive; they must consider their actions and how they reflect the issues of the time.

Do I think these people were wrong for thinking of this as a marketing tool? Surely not; there were no ill-intentions in doing this. Do I think it was the smartest thing to do? Probably not. I cannot imagine that they were setting things up around the city and not even once considering someone would think it was a bomb or something. Do I think they should be punished extensively for this? Not really. The city might use them as an example, saying 'pay attention to what you do these days, because you can shut down a whole city as a result'. They might get off with a slap on the wrist, and that's all I think they should get.

What about Turner? Are they responsible? As much as the people that put them up are. They will probably have the heaviest hand upon them. I think they deserve nothing more than a fine, again as a result of 'think before you act' type of thing.

I've heard people say that some will end up in jail because of this. I will be furious if this happens. Obviously someone needs to pay a small price, since so much was spent on response and the whole city was shut down, but I really hope the punishment isnl't too extreme. Otherwise it will be just another example of our focus being on the wrong things.

On another note, I have no doubt Turner got a lot more marketing out of this than they otherwise would have

Supposedly there are about 20 more out tehre they haven't found yet. They are also starting to pop up on ebay. Fans of Aqua Teen Hunger Force are like 'fuck yeah!'.

JSmythe · 02-01-2007, 01:06 PM

"It had a very sinister appearance," Coakley told reporters. "It had a battery behind it, and wires."

Lol... idiots. Even if I didn't know about the show... a board lighting up with a cartoon figure flicking me off does not trigger "bomb" in my mind.

lew · 02-01-2007, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by ballz2wallz

I was going to make a post about this too.

I agree with lew, things have changed since 9/11.

I was being sarcastic.

ballz2wallz · 02-01-2007, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by lew

I was being sarcastic.

The world is VERY different after 9/11, just as it was after Pearl Harbor. There's no way around that, and I don't see what there is to be sarcastic about.

lew · 02-01-2007, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by ballz2wallz

The world is VERY different after 9/11, just as it was after Pearl Harbor. There's no way around that, and I don't see what there is to be sarcastic about.

Because the world isn't different after 9/11.

Nor was it different after Peal Harbor.

ballz2wallz · 02-01-2007, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by lew

Because the world isn't different after 9/11.

Nor was it different after Peal Harbor.

How so? I see things very differently.

I see the NYC skyline as different. I see people's emotions are different. I see people's fears are different. I see people's security is different. I see people's comforts are different. I see people's lives are different. I see people's perceptions are different.

Note, this is not just in America, this is around the world.

The same is true after almost every great battle around the world. The atom bombs in Japan, Hitler in Germany. It changes the face of the earth. Why would you want to deny this?

Scrum · 02-01-2007, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by ballz2wallz

How so? I see things very differently.

I see the NYC skyline as different. I see people's emotions are different. I see people's fears are different. I see people's security is different. I see people's comforts are different. I see people's lives are different. I see people's perceptions are different.

Note, this is not just in America, this is around the world.

The same is true after almost every great battle around the world. The atom bombs in Japan, Hitler in Germany. It changes the face of the earth. Why would you want to deny this?

The world hasn't changed, just peoples skewed perceptions of it have.

nbiggershaft · 02-01-2007, 04:12 PM

To bad stupidity isn't lethal.

sj23 · 02-01-2007, 04:37 PM

Because the mission in Iraq isn't accomplished yet.

ballz2wallz · 02-01-2007, 05:38 PM

YouTube Video

Pretty much every place they put one of those things is like a 10 min walk from my house.

You can see they put one of MIT's Stata center (the funky roof), across the street from my work.

This whole thing seemed like a cool idea.

7960 · 02-01-2007, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by sj23

Because the mission in Iraq isn't accomplished yet.

what?

thatguyoverthere · 02-01-2007, 05:42 PM

It's really idiotic. I hope these two guys get a great lawyer and sue the heck out of the city when this is done. The cops suspect they were working with other organizations?! No, they decided to promo the show on their own by setting up displays in ten cities.

And let's look at the timeframe. This promotion has been running 2-3 WEEKS in TEN cities. Can we break it down? I'll be generous and say it was only 14 days.

Day 1-Promotion runs in all 10 cities, no reaction
Day 2-"
Day 3-"
Day 4-"
Day 5-"
Day 6-"
Day 7-"
Day 8-"
Day 9-"
Day 10-"
Day 11-"
Day 12-"
Day 13-"
Day 14- Soomeone notices them in Boston and the city goes batshit. Other 9 cities, no reaction.

If someone is claiming that after 9-11 the world has changed and we should be on hyper alert and all that, would they kindly care to explain why it took 14+ days to discover any of these "suspicious looking" devices spread out over ten major cities? It's not like they were too hard to find, they only BLINKED LIGHTS AT NIGHT!

If the terrorists are able to place multiple bombs in intentionally visible locations in ten major American cities, all of the bombs sitting in plain view and with blinking lights on them at night and no one notices them for 14+ days, can't you see that we've got some serious freaking problems bigger than 2 guys doing an ad campaign for Adult Swim?