BOSTON (AP) -- Nine 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 marketing campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. At least one of the devices depicts a character giving the finger.
College-educated marketing executives have shown to be fools. Today, someone within the Cartoon Network's "so-called" intelligentsia, someone with an office, desk, and a pen, signed their name, to put their specific approval, on the specific request, to perform this idiotic stunt. Somebody, somewhere, said yes.
Every last one of them should lose their jobs and face federal charges, once it can be determined the proper charge, to charge them with. There are enough people in the marketing profession that are hungry for jobs and deserve the chance to prove that they have more sense than this pack of morons. What do we need this bunch for? Anyway, that's not the half of it. I expect that some bean counters aren't going to be happy over at Turner Broadcasting. I am sure they will be getting a bill for the full and total cost of this response.
Right now, an old Judas Priest song named,"Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" is playing loudly in the sound studio and concert hall, of my mind.
15 comments:
Called guerrilla marketing. I love it. Moving forward and changing how business works. Maybe not a good idea with bomb replicas....but I still love it.
A good example: Grenade snowboard gear. (gloves, hats, coats, etc.) These guys started tagging their grenade stencil on anything that would hold paint in ski resorts all over the country. They're up about 5000 percent.
These guys definitely got some publicity. They're getting noticed. Good on them.
furthermore,
1.) I have now seen a picture of these 'bombs'. they're in the shape of waving cartoons.
2.) they've been in many other cities for weeks already.
...not a big deal. by this measure any vcr thrown out of a car on the freeway should be blown up for precautionary measures. hype and fear is all it is...
Mark,
There's nothing wrong with innovative marketing strategies. But I would think that in this day and age, a person would have more sense than to just hang something up on public property without an official permit or some kind of permission from the owner of the property.
Like I said, TBS will probably be getting a bill for the man hours spent on this thing.
Not a big deal? Let me ask you something. If I asked you to climb up on a ladder in the middle of the night to place an electronic device with blinking lights, protruding wires and a battery pack onto a support beam for a highway overpass, what would be going through your mind, as you were on the ladder in the dark of night, placing this device in that location? Would it ever possibly occur to you that someone would mistake it for a bomb? How about when you put the 30 some odd other devices on bridges and landmarks throughout the city, in the middle of the night?
Maybe that's exactly what they were thinking: either (1) only the dorks who watch our crappy cartoon will see it, and they will get all excited and start a whole buzz about the show; or (2) people will mistake them for a bomb attack and we'll get more publicity than we could ever purchase!
My reaction is
1. Art sucks and is really stupid. Never liked museums. Think artists are worthless.
2. A lot of people really do think the war on terror is a big joke, an overreaction. They think there is no threat.
3. I want a check written to the City for every penny spent on this wild goose chase. I want criminal charges under the new federal hoax law. I want Turner Broadcasting to never get a permit to put up a billboard or other sign in Boston city limits. Lifetime ban. There really isn't enough punishment for what they put our city through yesterday. Complete a-holes.
If I asked you to climb up on a ladder in the middle of the night to place an electronic device with blinking lights, protruding wires and a battery pack onto a support beam for a highway overpass, what would be going through your mind
I'd be pretty pleased with myself if it was my idea. I'd also wouldn't think anyone would mistake these bundles for bombs because the lights blink the shape of a smiling cartoon character. And based on the fact that other cities hadn't reported smiley cartoon bombers for the last few weeks, in cities we had placed them in, I wouldn't fear for the public sensitivity...
Art sucks? Where does that come in? The poor artists, greg! They starve!
The War on Terror in Iraq is a little bit of a joke. C'mon. I like protecting the country. But do it here with technology, not over there with blood and guns.
Mark: the first "piece of art" was found about 30-40 feet up a girder that supports an interstate, right above a busy public transportation hub. No one could see the incredible, ingenius "work of art" put there. All they could see was a black box with wires, sitting where a terrorist might put a bomb.
As an aside, and we don't yet know why, 2 actual pipe bombs were found yesterday during the chaos brought on by the marketing geniuses behind what I am utterly convinced was a deliberate attempt at a bomb scare.
My local officials and the brave citizen who called 911 are to be commended. And those who perpetrated this act, and the morons who support them, should be forced to watch the tape of Atta et al crossing through security with their little knives over and over and over until they "get it." The real question isn't why Boston reacted the way it did - it's why the other 9 cities didn't!!!
Thank God you are not in Homeland Security!
And I still ask - what would you think if you were up on the ladder in the wee hours of the morning, putting the device up there on the girder? Wouldn't you be thinking, "Gosh, I hope the cops don't catch me right now - they might take me for a terrorist!"
Oh another little tidbit that just makes you so proud of these young marketing geniuses and struggling "artists".
During the melee yesterday, which lasted all day and resulted in the closure of a major highway, several major bridges, and the Charles River, neither of the 2 local criminals who perpetrated this bomb hoax thought to pick up the phone and tell the cops what was going on.
No. Instead, they got lawyers. We know because by the time the cops came for them at around 8 pm, they had their lawyers ready. They had spent the whole day cowering in their homes, hoping the authorities wouldn't come for them. Absolute cowardly idiots.
Please have a look at the press conference these two dimwits gave this afternoon, not even a day after scaring an entire city.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/02/artists_perform.html
They think it's a big joke.
Please go to Boston.com and view the video. It's priceless
Here's a picture of your scary bombs.
Gimme a break. Anyone who sees this and panics is a paranoid in need of some pills.
Thank God you are not in Homeland Security!
-yes.
And I still ask - what would you think if you were up on the ladder in the wee hours of the morning...
As I said before, if it was my idea i'd be pretty pleased and excited, hoping things would turn out successfully. Why would I expect to be arrested for terrorism? I'm not doing anything.
No. Instead, they got lawyers. We know because by the time the cops came for them at around 8 pm, they had their lawyers ready. They had spent the whole day cowering in their homes, hoping the authorities wouldn't come for them. Absolute cowardly idiots.
Of course they got lawyers! Jeez. Should they have allowed themselves to get run over by the terror-frenzy train? Hell no. They need to protect themselves from a crazy mob who'd want to put them in jail for doing their job - and doing it excellently.
I'd say it's pretty stupid of the city of Boston and their enforcement and investigative officials to not have squashed this thing as they easily might have very early on. The only explosives around were the ones the bomb squad used to blow up an electronic sign of a cartoon fountain drink throwing up the bird. They spent unnecessary money. They made unnecessary fuss. They shut down the city.
Again. Give me a break.
Didn't see the news conference - link didn't work.
fixed link hopefully - bombs!!
Mark: perhaps instead of remaining silent and acting as if they knew they were guilty of something, they could have called the police and told them what they had not yet realized: there was no terror attack. I guess we have different views of citizenship.
To view the video of these 2 chumps having a good time, go here
http://www.boston.com/
And hit the video link attached to the story.
For the record, no one could see the blinking lights, either b/c the battery had gone dead or b/c it was daytime. All they saw was a black electrical board with wires and battery. Attached to a girder. Supporting an interstate highway. Above a subway station.
Hahaha...okay! They're a little chumpish..you got me there, Greg.
I read in there somewhere that they were told around 1:30 by their superiors not to say anything about it - so maybe that's why they were such poor Americans.
Mark,
Like Greg, I cannot understand what kind of person would not have the ability to understand that this was an illegal act. At the very least, they put these things up on public property or other property that did not belong to them, which by my calculations equals to trespassing.
After seeing these idiots at the news conference, I am thoroughly convinced that the gene pool was severely tainted at the time of their births.
Hi LA,
Unfortunately I've drawn some pretty hilarious characters to side up with.
Still, I'll stick by them.
I'll give you the very least - that they could be charged maybe with misdemeanor trespassing/graffitti/abuse of public property...but not a bomb hoax felony. And if they're smart under our current trend of "every crime is terrorism" they'll take a misdemeanor and move on.
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