BAD WORD WARNING: In a world where people are stupid enough to mistake a childrens' lightbox toy displaying the likeness of a cartoon character (which looks no more sinister than any random Pac Man-era video-game pixel blob) for a bomb -- and then blame other people for their own ignorance -- the only proper response to this...
... is this:
That's right: The Aqua Teen Hunger Force marketing campaign had been under way in ten cities for " a few weeks" by the time some non-basic-cable-subscribing Luddite in Boston freaked out the whole of Beantown by mistaking a wall-mounted LiteBrite for a bomb.
Kids: Do not take your Etch-A-Sketches out of your room, or you may be arrested as a terrorist. Or a hoaxter. Because, goodness knows, anyone in their right mind might easily mistake a plastic rectangle with a picture on it for an improvised explosive device and start a citywide panic via TV news before the authorities have the slightest idea of what's going on. That's called Homeland Security. Don't mass outbreaks of unnecessary panic and fear make you feel secure? What's the root word of "terrorism" again?
Wil Wheaton is right:
You know, if the goal of terrorists and the whole point of terrorism is to scare the sh-t out of us so badly that we leap ten feet in the air whenever someone says "boo," then the terrorists are clearly kicking our national asses.And if "The Departed" doesn't win an Oscar, it's the fault of the city officials and broadcast media of Boston for perpetuating this hoax about a hoax and making everyone in the world want to avoid acknowledging that Boston exists. Again. People are too embarrassed and infuriated to even want to think about the laughingstock town of Boston now -- and it's right in the middle of Oscar voting time! (That makes about as much sense as the whole "terrorist hoax" canard, doesn't it?)
Evidently, this is a conspiracy by Bostonians to spread fear and uncertainty -- terror, if you will -- that Martin Scorsese may not win his long-deserved Oscar. Why did he have to shoot -- er, I'm sorry, film -- the movie in Boston, for heaven's sake?!?! All Boston politician and broadcasters who have perpetuated and promoted this hoax should be arrested, fined, and forced to watch the Cartoon Network 24/7 for 60 days, until well after the Governor's Ball. And they should be forced to apologize -- to the Mooninites, Turner Broadcasting, and to all the people of the world, for being so reckless and irresponsible.
This is just one of many, many times to come when I will dearly miss Molly Ivins. She would have had a ball with this.
Not a haircut question, but is anyone else looking forward to the upcoming Aqua Teen film? The trailer and opening scene (both available on youtube) were pretty hilarious, but 15 minute segments to feature film is a huge jump. I worry they might not pull it off.
All things considered, it's refreshing to know that someone's out there to protect us from advertising.
And on FOX NEWS too!
It's been fascinating to watch these media outlets and city officials scrambling to cover their asses on this. And the mock concern from the one reporter who seems worried that these two "performance artists" are going to burn up the good will granted to them (By who? Boston? The media?) in the face of all the overreaction and general hysteria because they steadfastly refuse to stop talking about hairstyles-- that's just da bomb!
It's "Mainlined Hysterical Laughter To Keep From Morphing Into Howard Beale" Time this Saturday night right here at Scanners. Thanks so much for the video, Jim. It sounds perverse, but I really needed that.
As the Zebro kids so solemnly reminded us: 1/31 Never Forget.
This has got to be the funniest news story I have seen in a long time.
So now we are under attack from a cartoon featuring a talking meatball. Maybe Bush should invade Italy.
Wow,
I can barely believe that this actually happened.
I love the reporter who finally buckled down and asked if he's afraid he'll get his hair cut in prison. Classic.
The Beantowners, with all those college kids back in session, couldn't run this by one person under the age of 35 before they went red alert on this?
And as far as feeding the flames, I especially loved the tut-tutting on CBS Evening News. Who says Katie Couric has anything left to prove to the Beltway Embeds in charge of the mainstream media?
I cannot even begin to explain how much fun I've had watching this over the past week. Well...fun...mixed with a little despair...and...sadness...
but still some fun!
Those haircut guys are my heroes.
Did they really have to arrest them, though? I mean, come on. Someone in the Turner Entertainment hierarchy had to approve this marketing idea.
Not my words but my sentiments exactly.
The whole thing was incredibly stupid. Cartoon Network got even more publicity than they could ever hope for for that idiotic show, and the rest of the country is laughing at us for overreacting. As if we didn't have enough reasons to be a laughingstock with our sports teams generally sucking lately. Thanks a lot Menino.
But Jeff: By what criteria are brightly lighted signs of cartoon characters, displayed in prominent places, considered "suspicious" as terrorist bombs? Why would someone place explosive devices, decorated with colored lights, so that they deliberately call attention to themselves? Since when is such a bomb not, instead, disguised so as to be as inconspicuous as possible (and, therefore, less likely to be discovered before detonation)? These were around for a few weeks. And besides, there's lots of advertising in high-traffic, public transportation areas -- although this particular campaign was not in an authorized billboard space. Bombers are by no means the only people with agendas who target mass transit.
Nevertheless, a quick examination of one of these things immediately revealed it was not a bomb. How did the media get the story and go hysterical with it? Why would the city be shut down? And, if what you're suggesting is true, why didn't the Boston city officials simply express relief and congratulate themselves on a superb response to a perceived threat, rather than angrily trying to blame people who could have no reasonable expectation that anyone would mistake brightly lit toy signs for bombs?
At worst, the "viral marketing" guys should be fined for littering, or unauthorized display of advertising on public property (Post No Mooninites!). And the city officials held accountable for the effectiveness of their response. Was the situation handled properly? That, I think, is the primary question that needs to be asked. If so, fine. But to attempt to pin the city's $750,000 expense on a couple of guys advertising a cartoon seems a bit over-the-top to me -- and a misplacement of responsibility.
The "perpetrators" responses were genuine demonstrations of Freedom, however glib. I am proud to fight the power along with these guys.
And it's good to see you back Jim!
Either Interference, Inc. was so stupid that they didn't realize that placing devices with exposed batteries and wiring in high-traffic areas in a dozen major US cities would cause a bomb scare at some point, or they are not stupid at all. The reaction of the Boston government is a different issue, though I am not suprised to see an embarresed bureaucracy overreact.
It's kinda hard to rationalize the reaction to Lite Brites when they'd been up for two-to-three weeks and no one else freaked out during that time. One person on the edge after years of politicians' scare tactics sees an electronic cartoon character and concludes "bomb". Sheer numbers tell you this mentality isn't widely held.
If Interference Inc. can be blamed for this person's fragile hold on reality and the resulting freakouts, then I guess McDonald's should be liable for an idiot thinking it'd be wise to hold an open cup of hot coffee between her legs.
Oh wait.
*sigh*
That's the reason why we don't need 24/7 news channels with "journalists" who believe subjective intepretation of "what they see" is more urgent than investigating evidences before spreading misinformation.
Jonathan is proud to 'fight the power' along with the artists who placed the signs? What? The two young men were working, ultimately, for one of the country's biggest media conglomerates, for goodness' sake, which got great publicity with which to sell its products.
One small note: in the extremely bright light of a sunny winter Boston morning, a LiteBrite looks nothing like the picture above. It looks like a box with wires.
I'm a non-basic-cable-subscribing luddite, too; thanks for putting me in my pathetic place.
I think Gareth has a point I hadn't taken into consideration. Light brights in the day time probably don't look like light brights at all. I think though Gareth that after weeks of being visible at night as well as in the daytime, and the media looking for a story to tell (the war is getting a bit stale after all) this was the perfect place to start some drama. To draw some people in.
I love these reporters who think that because they don't know what "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is, then why would anyone else know. Let's run to the defense of a bunch of people who create wide spread panic before determining exactly what the device is. Thank you media. I would go so far as saying that Boston was probably fine until they bought into the media hype as well.
It's fine that these fellows were talking about hair styles - I just wish they had been a bit more well-spoken, and clever. Oh, well.
I for one don't believe the Boston authorities have taken enough steps to keep us safe from these enemies of our freedom. The danger won't be gone until the police thoroughly search these terrorists' houses for manicure sets and pointed sticks. You could so fucking decapitate someone with a pair of nail clippers. You wouldn't even have to be particularly good at hand-to-hand combat. Yes, Jim, I demand that our national government, which places so much value on defending individual freedoms from institutionalized oppression, rape them harder.
As a citizen of Boston, I must admit horrible amounts of shame, mainly with Mayor Menino. The original reaction, while a gross overreaction, makes some sense in our post 9/11 world, sad as that is. Deval Patrick had the right reaction. It's nothing to panic about, but not particularly funny. Menino, on the other hand, went so far as to say he wished he could ban the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie in Boston. Suing Time Warner because of your overreaction? That's just not right.
Of course it was an overreaction. Of course the media made hay with it. I'm just unconvinced that the blogosphere (including, obviously, me given that I'm adding to the comments) is well-placed to comment on media overreaction. Half the blogs from Seattle to Sydney, irrespective of their 'main subject' are commenting on this whole affair, giving it constantly renewed life. There's definitely an element of pot-kettle-black going on (and, to reverse Phillip's analogy, just because many people know what 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force', doesn't mean we all do; how terrible for us).
I think Gareth has a point I hadn't taken into consideration. Light brights in the day time probably don't look like light brights at all. I think though Gareth that after weeks of being visible at night as well as in the daytime, and the media looking for a story to tell (the war is getting a bit stale after all) this was the perfect place to start some drama. To draw some people in.
Let's not forget that in other cities, such as Portland, those signs were only taken down if they were on municipal property, but were otherwise ignored or left alone.
But then I guess I didn't factor in Boston's monopoly on bright sunshine. Lord knows places like Austin are murky all the time.
The original reaction, while a gross overreaction, makes some sense in our post 9/11 world, sad as that is.
It doesn't, though. I hate the phrase "post 9/11 world." It's always used as an excuse for unforgivable paranoia. The world we live in now isn't more dangerous than the one we used to live in. Authority figures just like to have an excuse to bully people around. It's a kind of masturbation for them.
In another town, a bike was detonated for having a sticker that read "this bike is a bomb." No, I haven't got a source. Google it. Ok. Here it is. And how'd they justify it? They said we lived in a dangerous post-9/11 world. I say the world has never been as dangerous as they think, and it's time for us to stop being a bunch of pansies.
Remember when you could say "I'm gonna kill you"? Some people like to lie and say that you could never say that. But you could. I was there. Then Columbine happened, and the fascists decided that paranoid would be the new sensible.
I don't think the advertisers were as innocent as they and their defenders are making them out to be, simply victims of overreaction. They knew exactly what they were doing, and I think they got exactly what they wanted. This seemingly innocuous act leading to farcical media-fueled mass-hysteria is the kind of thing that will appeal to skeptical, cynical, dissenting young folks and academics, and that's just who the show tends to target. I don't think they planned on a $2 million fine, but even so, that could have bought them 30 seconds of Super Bowl ad time, or it could put them in the 24-hour ever-repetitive mainstream media for half a week; it's a gamble that I think paid off. If it never got any media attention, they'd be out, what, 5 grand for 100 light boards and travel expenses to hang them?
It's like the advertisers saw Borat and attempted to apply the concept to this campaign: Make people/an institution look foolish, but do it in such a way that it makes others who see it reflective. Although, as Borat also showed us, people don't like it very much when the joke is on them.
"They knew exactly what they were doing...."
Aw, hell no! That's just dumb! This story really doesn't have a moral with it's current ending. The authorities did something stupid -- yes, stupid -- and in the end you can never know what kind of thing will cause them to rape you.