Colorizing films was bad enough, but terrorist threat? Perhaps finally a marketing campaign that went too far. Or security theater that went too far.
Turner Promotion Mistaken for Terrorist Threat
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The alien-like Mooninites of Cartoon Network's "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" invaded the country rather quietly earlier this month, until one touched down at a Boston intersection Tuesday morning.The Turner network launched a 10-city outdoor marketing campaign for its film “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theatres” involving small circuit boxes labeled with the characters scattered across the streets of Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Philadelphia. The boxes had been in place for two to three weeks, but Boston officials perceived them to be potential bomb threats, temporarily shutting the city's Interstate 93, a key inbound roadway, a bridge connecting Boston and Cambridge, and a portion of the Charles River.
...But at least one person found no humor in the outdoor ad campaign gone haywire. U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's telecom panel, said in a statement, “Scaring an entire region, tying up the T and major roadways, and forcing first responders to spend 12 hours chasing down trinkets instead of terrorists is marketing run amok. It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt. Whoever thought this up needs to find another job.”
Funny how only Boston out of these ten cities found the machines scary.
