"Boston LED terror scare: a message to the media"-------

[madrchsod]

http://www.seanbonner.com/blog/archives/002494.php
seanbonner: ATHF Shenanigans

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/01/boston_led_terror_sc.html
Boing Boing: Boston LED terror scare: a message to the media

[Richard Steele]

1. LOL! recommended!

[JohnnyLib2]

2. That says it all. Recommended.

Wonderful :applause:

[Liberal Veteran]

3. But...but...but....the lite brites could have been bombs!

After all, terrorists are well known for telegraphing their intentions with prominently displayed flashing lights.

They don't work in secrecy and try to hide their bombs from detection.

Right?

[tomreedtoon]

4. This is serious. They COULD have been bombs.

If anyone here was a Vietnam vet, they could have recounted the fact that stuffed animals and toys were often used as the triggers in booby traps. And one with a cute corporate character would be the first thing an unsuspecting idiot would have picked up.

I could direct you to my discussion on my web site about this, but I won't. Suffice it to say that the ad agency was stupid for doing such a "viral marketing" campaign that was so oblique, so uncertain, and so pointless. And AOL Time Warner was stupid to approve it.

Besides, according to the internet buzz, the Aqua Teens movie is going to suck, and this was a stupid attempt to get some butts into seats for the first weekend.

[CoffeeCat]

6. It was a damn good marketing campaign...

Surely, you must be joking.

These marketing lights were put up in many major cities. People in several large cities managed to
get through the day without suggesting that these marketing lights were weapons of mass destruction.
The people in Boston who insinuated that very idea--are absurd and totally off-the-charts.

This incident showcases two really pathetic points:

1.) Our society is riddled with fear and thoughts of terror--so much so--that a cartoon character on a
Lite Bright can illicit screams of, "OH MY GOD!!!! IT MIGHT BE A BOMB!!!!!". That is insane. Anyone who
thinks that should be ashamed to express that ridiculous notion.

2.) The mainstream media thrives off of "suspicious package" and "white powder" stories. They swoop in
to town, whenever any American city experiences a strange package left at a counter. For half a day--the
media agonizes and "what ifs" us into a frenzy of fear and terror--until the white powder is found to be
a spilled packet of Splenda. Whooops, sorry--no story!

This fusion of FEAR and media exploitation is what drove this NORMAL, UNEVENTFUL marketing campaign into
the brick wall. The media is not normal, and those two guys--who only wanted to talk about hair--are the
only normal tangents to this silly story. Those guys astutely demonstrated how ridiculous and self promoting
media members are. They're clowns who parlay a 24-hour news cycle into a roller coaster
of, "OH MY GOD TERROR!!! ...never mind OH MY GOD FEAR!!!!! ....ooops that was nothing."

Somebody. Please. Save us from ourselves if we actually think that marketing was to blame for this fiasco!

[mdmc]

11. the corporations could have stopped the beantown scene by noon

but preferred to hype the scene for their profit. What was done would be criminal in NY.

[michaelwb]

29. Exactly.

Once the devices were looked at, they were easily determined NOT to be bombs. Which should have been the end of the story, but the politicians, media and some posters - kept hyping the fear.

That is the thing which is shameful. Not a marketing campaign or the police checking them out. Everything that has happened since is deeply wrong.

The authorities, media and a small number of stubbornly fearful posters trying to hype a case of posting illegally on public property into threat that doesn't exist. These folks have surrendered their reason to the years of fear mongering by the Neo-Cons and media outlets.

They could have been bombs.

The hose I saw in the yard could have been a snake.

And Donald Rumsfield could be Princess of the Pony People.

But they weren't.

It wasn't.

And he isn't.

[walldude]

8. Did you see the "devices"? Only a freakin moron would

think they were bombs...

[mdmc]

12. whats a bomb look like dude?

[rman]

14. For one, it involves explosives

Which was not among the "components" of these "devices".

If we should seriously consider that these things could be bombs, then everything can be a bomb and we'd have bomb scars all the time.

Be scared, give up the freedoms for which the terrorists supposedly hate us so much, and keep shopping.

[mdmc]

15. anything can look like a bomb

And when the cops call you and ask if you can take responsibility for your advertising, to make sure it isn't a bomb, and you fail to take responsibility for placing these items around a city, you have created a public nuisance.

If these "dudes" told the truth when asked, they wouldn't have broken the law.

They put their corporate profits (although aqua teen squad is super cool) before our security.

In NYS, this is a crime.

[rman]

17. omg, scary!!

[mdmc]

18. yes

[mdmc]

21. I have always thought of you as a man of the people, rman

Let me put this to you in another way. Lets look at this event through the eyes of rich liberals and through the eyes of the working poor.

Rich liberals have televisions, expensive cable packages, pc or laptops, high speed internet access and tons of time to veg out and be entertained.

The working poor have none of that.

Rich liberals think these marketing professionals are super cool. Rich liberals think this cartoon is super cool. Brilliant! LOL!

Working poor don't know about this situation, unless they were a victim of it. In Boston, people were stuck in trains and in traffic. This stunt hurt the working poor.

The corporate advertisers could have ended this at noon by telling the cops it was a marketing scheme. They kept quiet to hype their toon, at the expense of the city.

The city will pay for this, and services to the poor will be effected.

Last night the city of Newburgh had our monthly dem meeting. All the rich liberals were jocking aqua teen and this whole situation. The working poor members of the party just waited for the meeting to begin. They must have wondered why rich white people think some things are so worthy of discussion, while the drug war, and iraq war, destroy their communities. They just waited until the rick liberals stopped talking about the cartoon. "Our streets are not secured now. Cops don't need to worry about no advertising."

[walldude]

16. It does not look like a sheet of plastic

with batteries and lightbulbs stuck to it. And if it does then why was Boston the only city that freaked out about this and why did it take 2 weeks?

[mdmc]

19. yes

[mdmc]

22. you can make a bomb look like anything dude

All the corporate advertisers needed to do was admit that they placed the ads around town. When they kept that on the dl for profits, they committed a crime.

[sendero]

23. Anything is possible...

... but only a few things actually happen.

A piece of trash on a city sidewalk could be a bomb, I don't see anyone sending out a trash truck, much less the bomb squad.

[Reterr]

5. K&R

:rofl: :headbang:

[LostInAnomie]

7. But... It had wires! and a battery!

What else could it have been but a bomb!?

[tuvor]

9. And it drew attention to itself!

[calzone]

10. A brief lesson for the Boston poe-poes

Who seem to be on Owsley acid.

BOMB



SIGN


BOMB



SIGN



ENFIN:


The terrorists have won.

[Renew Deal]

13. 1-31-07 Never Forget

[RandiFan1290]

20. Bravo!

[KharmaTrain]

24. And We're A Hell Of A Lot More Responsible

The corporate media LOVES death and destruction...the bigger the better. It makes for real neat picture. It's also an easy story to cover since all they have to do is find someone who looks disheveled and they have an instant interview. The more tear-jerking their story, the better. It's fear and agony...those bring in the ratings.

While the City of Boston made this mess into a complete fiasco, I blame CNN and MSNBC for, yet again, crying fire in a crowded movie theater. All these false or staged "terrer alerts" the more a chicken little factor sets in where no one takes the threat seriously. But then, I don't thik corporate media cares about that either as this could lead to a bigger disaster...and, from their bottom line, that means even more viewers. Suck ficks.

[mdmc]

25. the corporate marketing should have told the cops what they did

they fueled the fire to increase their profit.

[KharmaTrain]

27. One Turner Didn't Know What The Other Was Doing? Yeah, Right

The old saying is "say good, say bad, just say...just as long as you spell the name right on the check". My cynicism radar has been going off the edge about some aspects of this story...most notably the corporate media coverage.

Here was a Time/Warner channel covering something that promotes another Time/Warner Channel. The purpose of this promotion was to get media attention...and apparently it wasn't. These things were around cities for two weeks and not a single story...so what's a corporate to do? Manaufacture both a news story to generate ratings for one network while promoting a show on another.

[mdmc]

28. the rich get richer, the poor suffer

[xultar]

26. ATHF fans rejoice. Thank you Sean!