The Boston scare...

Last week two men pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges claiming they created panic by placing electronic light boards that caused a bomb scare Wednesday in Boston. Were they bombs? Were terrorists targeting Boston, one of America's most historic cities?

No, they were certainly not. In fact they posed no threat at all; they were a humorous and harmless guerrilla campaign advertising Cartoon Network's show Aqua Teen Hunger Force and the up and coming movie. Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens were the two minds behind the marketing technique and had no intentions of causing any danger. They simply wanted to create some word-of-mouth fuss about the cartoon show and hopefully get people talking about the movie. The boards depicted a cartoon character, known only by devoted Aqua Teen fans, making an obscene gesture at passing motorists. The comical part, one which most missed, is that not many people would have even related to the character, let alone talked abut the movie. The ironic part, however, is that this incident created more buzz than imaginable, and whether that is seen as positive or negative, "no publicity is bad publicity."

The moon men, or Mooninites, as they're known to the show's faithful, are delinquent outer-space men who make frequent appearances on the program. Photographs of the devices show several tiny light bulbs protruding from a circuit board that houses wiring and at least four batteries.

To watch the "work of art" take place, direct your attention here
Boston Scare Setup

Better yet, to watch the two make an even more hilarious press conference appearance, watch this Press Conference

So what do we learn from this?
Well, sometimes traditional advertising has its downfall. Sometimes spending large amounts of money on TV spots and magazine ads only goes so far. In order to gain more reach and more effective recall, it may be necessary to embark upon a campaign like such. Though these events may have been misunderstood or blown out of proportion, they still had the power to create such a rumor-generating story. Cities across the Nation caught wind of what happened and were discussing the issue throughout conferences, companies, and even college classrooms. It may be seen as bad press, however, judging from the show's already risk-based content, the controversial stunt will relate well with the audience. In other words, this publicity was exactly the thing to motivate more people interested in this humor to go see the movie.

On the other hand, when is enough, enough?
Advertising is becoming more invasive and intruding. It is not enough that we are bombarded with 1000s of messages a day, but now we have to be under public panic for such incidents?

To be an even more annoying devil's advocate, what if it is not advertiser's fault, and more of this Country's obsession with fear? How could we possibly mistaken kid-like night-brights for a terrorist threat and shutdown half of a city? It is certainly justifiable, the necessary safety precautions that were taken. However, I feel slightly embarrassed that the stunt is continuing this far.


In my personal opinion, I am quite impressed with the buzz this technique has created. After all, that was the sole intention, not to hurt anyone.