E!: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Promotion Bombs (the Boston "terror plot")

[Bucky]

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Promotion Bombs

All went well until Wednesday morning in Boston, when, as the Boston Globe reported, a commuter spotted one of the blinking light boards in a bus station. Soon, there were reports of other blinking light boards throughout the city, some near bridges and highways.

All hell promptly broke loose.

Traffic was stalled and nerves frayed as authorities scrambled to determine if the suspicious devices—10 in all—were dangerous, incendiary devices.

It didn't take long to see that the battery-powered boards, some with exposed wires, weren't bombs. And it didn't take long to see that the Aqua Teen Hunger Force promotion was a bomb. A big one.

[Hissyspit]

1. Jeez. I'm a 44-year-old white male living in rural North Carolina

and I would have recognized the Moononites and laughed. The signs were up for a while and have not caused any trouble in other cities. Just more ignorant over-reaction from the fear-mongering, as far as I'm concerned. This country continues to be brain-dead and dysfunctional. They actually made an arrest! Oh, brother.

[WindRavenX]

2. yup

What a fucked up world.

[ReverendDeuce]

13. IF YOU WERE FROM THE MOON, FRY-MAN...

Aqua Teen Hunger Force is an amazing show. Actually, the entire Adult Swim programming block is f'ing amazing. I mean totally.

Dude, Metalocaplyse is the future.

[Supersedeas]

26. Maybe, Dimson can claim the foiled Boston terror plot as a success in the next SOTU

[pinniped]

3. Scared morons.

I hear these bad boys were also in San Francisco. At least they didn't lock down this city.

[hughee99]

5. Yes, give him the finger, Err! n/t

[ToeBot]

8. And do it as hard as you can! n/t

[0rganism]

11. I hope they can see it from here! (n/t)

[CRF450]

4. I bet...

a million dollars that the morons who made the complaints have never seen or heard of the show.

[pinniped]

6. The complaining morons are too busy cowering under their blankets....

to watch TV.

[Leopolds Ghost]

15. Don't go overboard. Not everyone has cable. In fact, I hate cable -- it is mind-numbing pap.

But that's no excuse for not asking around and finding out what the reference was.

"Kilroy was here" anyone??

Aqua Teen and Metalocalypse are one of the few bright spots on cable TV...

Speaking of which, what happened to The Boondocks? I never saw the show,
and we lost the comic strip to make way for... what?

[lithiumbomb]

7. free publicity!

The Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie is out in a few weeks. This has given them more publicity than they could have ever possibly imagined. Hopefully Boston will come to its senses and the person they have arrested will have the charges dropped. One of the charges is for a 'hoax device.' If it's not intended to look like a bomb, how is it a hoax?

[gatorboy]

9. Because the authorah-ties are too embarrassed to claim otherwise.

I wouldn't be surprised if they charged the kid that put these up with "domestic terra'ism" just to make an example of him because of their stupidity.

It's like the Miss America pageant. They chastise the women for immoral behavior yet at the same time promote the cheesecake aspect. Fuggin' hypocrites!

[Quantess]

10. I think it was really poor judgment to place them under bridges.

They HAD TO have known that someone would freak out.

I mean, people of Boston greatly overreacted, but, it doesn't seem like a well thought out ad campaign. It seems brainless.

[CRF450]

14. I agree

And you cant really blame the police and local law enforcement for over-reacting, when theirs a complaint about an IED they have to do things by the book.

BTW my favorite character in ATHF is Carl, he is so cool. I wish he was my neighbor HAHA!

[HuffleClaw]

17. erm, they were LIGHTS, where ELSE are ya gonna put 'em?

that will make 'em nice and visible?

[0rganism]

12. So there appear to be 4 types of people in Boston

1. People who know a cartoon character promotional when they see one, and say nothing

2. People who freak out upon seeing cartoon character promotionals and call the cops (or are themselves cops)

3. People who work for ad agencies to deploy stealth cartoon character promotionals covertly under cover of darkness

4. The blind

Is this a correct interpretation of the circumstances?

[Leopolds Ghost]

16. Quiet, 0rganism, Frylock and I are attempting to solve this mystery! n/t

[deepthought42]

18. HA HA HA. People are stupid...

Even if someone doesn't recognize the cartoon character, talk about an over reaction! My first reaction was to laugh my fucking ass off! :rofl:


Edit: typo

[hedgehog]

19. Even if you didn't recognize the character, wouldn't your first

guess be that it was some students pulling a prank?

[Quantess]

23. At first, they did think it was the work of college kids.

A prank.
But then they learned it was Turner broadcasting. Supposedly mature, responsible, middle aged guys, who threw a wrench in the wheels of the city just to promote their product.

[porphyrian]

31. They didn't throw "a wrench in the wheels of the city," for fuck's sake. The media did.

They were ads. If people weren't sure they were ads, they found out they were pretty easily. The media caused the panic, not the ads. The media reported the ads without pictures in the terrorist attack dialect, and without doing the obvious journalistic procedure of researching facts before reporting them. The terrorist attack in Boston, if there was one, was perpetrated by the media and no one else.

[Conan_The_Barbarian]

20. Wow what a succesful promotion!

That shows rating's are going to sky rocket!

[Ron Green]

21. Here's how it works:

Time-Warner, or whoever is the parent company, gets millions in free advertising for their cartoon show, paid for by tax dollars funding "homeland security" guys, then runs it non-stop on their CNN news show to fill in time they don't have to talk about important news. It's a win-win for everybody except the public.

[americanstranger]

22. It was that well-known terrorist group

SundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday....

What a rad name.

- as

[HoneyBee]

24. OMFG!!! They were there for ****3 WEEKS**** and no one noticed

Or no one thought they were BOMBS, anyway...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/01/national/a075021S84.DTL&hw=turner&sn=001&sc=1000


<i>they were up there for three weeks and no one noticed. It's pretty commonsensical to look at them and say this is a piece of art and installation</i>

[WilliamPitt]

25. Think about that

What do you always ignore?

Advertisements that are all around you.

Ergo, what would make great camoflage for bombs?

The ads that hide in plain sight.

[HoneyBee]

27. I am not sure what your point is...

oooga booga???

I mean.... the fire hydrant, the bus stop, the parking meter... could all "make great camoflage for bombs", right?

Come on:

[HoneyBee]

30. OOooo... I know. Rocks!! They could camoflage bombs to look like ROCKS !!!!

Next time I spot a rock, I am SOO calling The Department of Homeland Security! No... the Boston PD!!!

[Bucky]

28. Yep, this one's gonna get laughed out of court. What a successful marketing strategy!

Well, except that box of french fries. He does kinda look like a terrorist to me.

[Homer Wells]

29. You can take it to the bank now

that this cartoon will enjoy some high ratings for a while.

Anything "banned in Boston" always seems to garner a helluva lot of interest, at least for a time.

:popcorn:

This sorta reminds me of the War of the Worlds broadcast on the radio in 1939. People were CONVINCED Martians had landed and were taking over the planet. Imagine if there had been such a litigious society at that time!?

[Strelnikov_]

32. Chicago police chief holds press conference to display the boards they found

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070201cline,1,1094465.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Speaking at a Navy Pier news conference this morning where he had several of the devices on display, Cline noted the illuminated signs—intended to promote the late-night cable TV cartoon show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force"—could have created "chaos" had they been discovered during this weekend's Super Bowl festivities.

The 20 devices picked up by Chicago police Wednesday night are circuit boards measuring 12 by 15 inches, with batteries, wires and raised, blinking blue and green lights in the shapes of cartoon characters.

. . .

After seeing what happened in Boston, the marketing company for "Aqua Teen" contacted authorities in other cities where the devices had been planted. Chicago police got the word Wednesday night, and at 9:30 p.m. officers fanned out across the city after being given 35 locations in which to look, police Cmdr. Wayne Gulliford said. Besides recovering 20 circuit boards, officers also questioned two men, ages 23 and 25, who were seen removing them, Gulliford said. The men allegedly told investigators they had been sent out by the marketing company to retrieve the gizmos. No charges were sought against the pair.

Though 15 devices remained unaccounted for, Gulliford said he was confident all had been taken down. Cline said he thought the city should be reimbursed for the pay of officers who spent several hours searching for the devices. Police could not immediately state the dollar cost of the search or how many officers were involved.


My God, 15 ON THE LOOSE. I would probably start looking for them on e-bay, officer.

And why were cops sent out looking for them. Just tell the company they will be charged for removal of any that still are up after 24 hours. They already knew they were not a hazard.


unfuckingbelieveable . . .