everybody panic!
You know, this whole Boston thing with the [adult swim] marketing deal is really pissing me off. The Media decided this thing was intended to be a terrorism hoax (when there is no evidence at all that's what it was) and now they're all howling for some terrible retribution against Turner, [adult swim] and the advertising agency that came up with the idea.
As far as I can tell, this is what happened:
1. [adult swim] has a clever viral marketing program.
2. People begin to notice the clever viral marketing program.
3. Someone wets their pants, because LEDs in an odd shape clearly mean we're all about to die.
4. Police overreact.
5. Media overreacts.
6. Entire city of Boston is fucked for an entire day.
7. Entire city of Boston is (understandably) pissed.
8. Media which overreacted and labeled the viral marketing
a terrorist hoax, decides that [adult swim] and Turner somehow owe
people of Boston an apology, and also owe city all the costs the city
incurred. There's a rather angry editorial at boston.com which really
lays into Turner for perpetuating a "terrorist hoax" on an innocent
city. The only problem with that is that it wasn't a fucking terrorist hoax! It was a viral marketing campaign that went awry when a bunch of people over-reacted.
So the first thing is that the fucking idiot media need to stop referring to this as a terrorist hoax, because it wasn't, okay? And all these politicians and newsdrones who are embarrassed now that it's clear they overreacted also need to stop trying so hard to make put this all at Turner's feet.
Look, I'd be pissed, too, if my whole city was effectively shut down for a day, but how exactly is [adult swim] and Turner responsible for this? Did they tell their viewers to go out and create some sort of terrorist hoax? I'm pretty sure they just told their viewers to build cool LED versions of the Mooninites (which is pretty fucking cool, if you ask me.) As far as I can tell, it was the media and law enforcement who decided to freak out and make everyone in the city of Boston think it was some sort of terrorist plot, and then a terrorist hoax.
Equating a silly viral marketing stunt with a bomb threat, is just retarded, and it actually devalues actual threats and hoaxes. Remember when DHS, at the direction of the Bush campaign, jacked up terror warnings whenever Kerry began to rise in the polls, or Bush began to sink? After the third or fourth time that happened, did anyone take any of those warnings seriously? I know I didn't, and that's where the real danger in this whole thing is: the media was so irresponsible and overreacted so supremely in this instance, if there's a very real threat in the near future, how many people won't take it seriously, because they remember this one?
You know, if the goal of terrorists and the whole point of terrorism is to scare the shit 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.
Comments
I saw this on the lunch time news when I first woke up (hey, I work nights) and found it bizarre. How could black boards with an LCD patern be construed as a terrorist attack? Did people think they were small robots that came alive? If I'd been in their position I would have seen the sign, going "oh cool" and then been dissapointed when I found out that it was for ATHF.
The retard who first called this in as a terror attack is the problem. And the fact that not one cop went "hey wait a minute..." and they all actually went "AHHHHHHHH, BLOW IT UP" is extremely worrying...
i wonder what would have happened if they tried to install these "sophisticated electronic devices" here in DC.
awesome post!
The media keeps referring to this as a "hoax". It's only a "hoax" if the intent was to actually throw people into a panic thinking that these were bombs. This was not a fucking "hoax"!
I just read that they put some of these up around Portland, OR, my home town. Guess what? I haven't heard dick about it. I guess Portland is smarter than Boston.
The officials and press of Boston ought to own up to the fact that they arrested this guy because they were embarrassed. They listen to a few village idiots and overreacted.
When the two were released they held a press conference: They proceeded to make fun of the whole situation, which the press did not like. Go guys!!
MSNBC has an article here saying most people think the whole thing is overblown: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16931200/?GT1=9033
It just kind of make me laugh... as if someone would put a real bomb together with the lights?
I think you're being a bit too strong about this being a sign of the government putting the country into a state of fear. Certainly there are some people in Boston who are on edge. But I don't think that means the rest of us are.
http://magicsafire.vox.com/library/post/operation-iggy-freedom.html
Okay, I totally get the whole artistic freedom thing, but come on. From an old fogies point of view, you HAVE to understand the widespread panic? Boston is thinking they are the next hit. There were apparently two suspicious packages delivered in Boston and we've had a couple of threats that were deemed neutral. All of these little lightbright boxes were NOT place conspicuously in a well lit area where they might be noticed by fellow cartoon-heads. They were posted in suspicious locations. Locations that a bomb absolutely might be placed. It sucks that those psychos in Iraq have come over here and made us so paranoid, but in a way, it's sort of dosed us with a bit of reality. The reality that we have to take EVERY SINGLE possibility as a threat to our safety. I'm so glad that it wasn't what it looked like, but you have got to see the city of Boston's side on this one guys. San fran, Chicago, big cities, miles away from New York. We are a freaking train ride to ground zero. No one knows who the next hits will be. All they saw was something they didn't understand posted in hospitals, on bridges, overpasses..places that if it blew up, could be catastrophic.
Sorry, I'm shocked. I mean, I will not stop flying in airplanes cus if your time is up your time is up, but that doesn't mean you have to step in front of the bus. I think Turner, or whoever hired these companies, needs to be the responsible party and step up to dropping the ball on letting the people in charge in on this little heist. I'm sure they wanted this kind of publicity, but not to the degree where people would get arrested.
Hope it was worth the $1million dollars they paid for this ad campaign. I doubt the cartoon movie will do that well.
-peaceout and watch your back....;)
Not one psycho in Iraq has come here to do anything to anyone.
Not a single one. At all.
In fact, the only people who are working real hard to keep Americans paranoid are the media and the Bush administration. (And Joe Lieberman, who is just one appointment away from being part of the latter, anyway.)
Is it necessary to point out that no one in Iraq has ever been a part of a terrorist operation in the United States?
conciousscream7, you are aware that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, right? If you wanted to place blame on a nation, you'd be better off looking at our ally, Saudi Arabia, since most of the terrorists in 9/11 came from there.
I find it amazing that with a segment of the population, discussions of terrorist activities mutate into discussions of Iraq, which makes no sense unless you buy some rather faulty logic sold to us back in 2003.