Cartoon Network Bomb Scare: Mooninites take Boston by storm

[yanya]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/ap_ ... us_devices

... personally, I find this hilarious.

[Just Myself]

...the hell? Is that supposed to be Meatwad? Bah.

Cheers,
JM

[SpringHeelJack]

Ah, the Lite-Brite Scare of 2K7. Truly, none of us Bostonians will forget the horror of 1/31. I had my grandma call me during work to make sure I wasn't near any of the "mysterious boxes". When I found out what it really was, I think I laughed for about ten minutes straight. My entire college also thinks it's hilarious. Someone on the b0st0n lj community posted this parody, and it is equally amusing.

[Escapay]

The lite-bright promotion sounds ridiculous, but SHJ, that link you did was HILARIOUS!

Escapay

[disneyboy20022]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 6/0/BLOG03

BOSTON -- More than 10 blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

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.

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"It's a hoax -- and it's not funny," said Gov. Deval Patrick, who said he'll speak to the state's attorney general "about what recourse we may have."

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.

"The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger," Turner said in a statement, issued a few hours after reports of the first devices came in.

It said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company said.

The marketing company responsible for the campaign, Interference Inc., had no immediate comment. A woman who answered the phone at the New York-based firm's offices on Wednesday afternoon said the firm's CEO was out of town and would not be able to comment until Thursday.

There were no reports from police Wednesday of residents in the other nine cities spotting similar devices.

Austin police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said the marketing company told the department about the devices Wednesday afternoon and was working with the city to remove them. She did not know where the devices were placed and said no one had contacted police about seeing one.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he'll seek to punish those responsible, and indicated that the penalty could be two to five years in prison per count.

After Turner made its announcement, Menino said he was "prepared to take any and all legal action" against the company and its affiliates "for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents."

"That would include any criminal or civil action," Menino spokeswoman Meaghan Maher later clarified. Boston Police would not comment on any potential charges.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke praised Boston authorities for sharing their knowledge quickly with Washington officials and the public.

"Hoaxes are a tremendous burden on local law enforcement and counter-terrorism resources and there's absolutely no place for them in a post-9/11 world," Knocke said.

Authorities said some of the objects looked like circuit boards or had wires hanging from them.

The first device was found at a subway and bus station underneath Interstate 93, forcing the shutdown of the station and the highway.

Later, police said four calls, all around 1 p.m., reported devices at the Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, both of which span the Charles River, at a Boston street corner and at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.

The package near the Boston University bridge was found attached to a structure beneath the span, authorities said.

Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge was briefly suspended, and Storrow Drive was closed as well. A similar device was found Wednesday evening just north of Fenway Park, police spokesman Eddy Chrispin said.

Wanda Higgins, a 47-year-old Weymouth resident and a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, heard about the threat as she watched television news coverage while preparing to leave work at 4 p.m.

"I saw the bomb squad guys carrying a paper bag with their bare hands," Higgins said. "I knew it couldn't be too serious."

Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network were left with several publicists.

"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of the Adult Swim late-night block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.

The cartoon also includes two trouble-making, 1980s-graphic-like characters called "mooninites," named Ignignokt and Err -- who were pictured on the suspicious devices. They are known for making the obscene hand gesture depicted on the devices.

Also am I the only one who didn't know about this movie. I dislike the TV Show as it reminds me of South Park and I very much dislike that show as well....

Also arrests were made earlier today to read that story click on the following link:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,249110,00.html

[SpringHeelJack]

Hey thar...

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=18500

[disneyboy20022]

Hey thar...

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=18500

Oops.... perhaps I should have done a search on the subject before posting... I just hope Escapay Doesn't Scold Me

Anway Perhaps this topic could be merged with the original

[Maerj]

...the hell? Is that supposed to be Meatwad? Bah.

Cheers,
JM

No, it is one of the Mooninites. They are from the Moon. The Moon Rulz!



...I'd love to have one of those signs, maybe the ad agency who did this would sell me one?

[PixarFan2006]

Apparently no one from Boston watches Adult Swim. That's what happens when people overreact.

[Disney Duster]

Why would they arrest people when they didn't intend to scare anyone or make a false bomb threat? They're calling this a hoax but the marketers didn't even intend for this to be a hoax! Who looks at lite-brites and thinks, "TERRORISTS!!!!!!"?

And I LOVE Aqua Teen Hunger Force and will hopefully see the movie, which looks awesome.

[2099net]

Why would they arrest people when they didn't intend to scare anyone or make a false bomb threat? They're calling this a hoax but the marketers didn't even intend for this to be a hoax! Who looks at lite-brites and thinks, "TERRORISTS!!!!!!"?

Well, I'm normally on the side of being cynical about Terrorist Alerts and Warnings. But I think the authorities have done right here.

I don't agree with all these colour coded terrorism alerts. I mean, it its Red, what are you supposed to do different from when its yellow or amber. I find the whole notion incredibly stupid, unless they want everyone to cower in their homes when it's "red". All you can do, no matter what the colour is, is be vigilant and report stuff which looks suspicious.

And why wouldn't terrorists use lite-brites, or American pop-culture images? There whole idea would be to do something obviously suspicious, but make it not look suspicious. It sounds to me the ideal way of planting a bomb would be to do it in an advert or similar.

As for no harm was intended. Why arrest a man careless driving or similar? It's perfectly easy to break the law without intending to, or being aware that you have. One man's careless driving is another man's careful driving. Ignorance of one's actions, concequences or the law is no excuse. Besides, just because you are arrested doesn't mean you are charged.

So I commend people who reported the signs and I commend the authorities for investigating them.

It's what people have to do in this day and age, and they can do it without sparking a major panic too.

[Disney Duster]

Well, 2099net, now I've actually seen your opinion, and I agree. You've changed my mind. I think you're right about this.

However, Aqua Teen Hunger Force is supposed to be a unique, "different", unconventional cartoon. So, they would want to make there adverts the same, and they would probably feel a billboard or something would be too conventional. What would you have recommended they do? Could they really have predicted someone mistaking these for bomb threats? You're right, they were a bit careless, but it's hard to think of every possible outcome.

[2099net]

No, I don't think that they could have predicted the outcome.

But... I don't know if its the same in America, but over here it is illegal to "flypost" - that is paste adverts on the side of buildings without permission. That may or may not be the case in America, but perhaps they were knowingly breaking the law in the first place (thus, no authorities were told of their planned actions).

I don't think any major case will be filed. The arrests are more of a publicity thing, just to get people aware and think twice before they do something similar in the future.

If I was in charge of Cartoon Network, I'd volenteer to pay the costs too, they've had a lot of publicity, and doing so, if done correctly, could give them lots more too. They've still had a bargain.