Aqua Teen Stunt Costs Turner and Agency $2M

evw writes "The NYTimes reports that the Turner Broadcasting System and the ad agency responsible have reached a $2M settlement with the city of Boston and state and federal agencies that treated the light boards placed around the city as an act of terrorism (as covered earlier on /.) Half of the money is to cover direct costs associated with the response. The other $1M goes to 'goodwill funds' that will be used for response training and public outreach."

Comments

Re:Free advertisement.. er.. low cost.

[montyzooooma]

"WTF is wrong with our government. Does anybody remember the post-9/11 homeland security debacle with Tom Ridge reccomending people use duct tape and plastic sheeting to protect themselves from terrorists.. and then several people dying by asphyxiating themselves in their own homes?"

Anyone have a link to an example of anyone asphyxiating themself after duct taping their house? (And there's a sentence I didn't think I'd be typing when I got up this morning.) I did a quick google but ashpxiating and duct tape seems to get a lot of stories about all sorts of oxygen-deprivation sex acts.

Re:WTF?

[mpe]

A real bomb is never designed to make itself presentable/noticable. Only a dickhead terrorist would invite attention to a bomb.

Not quite the same thing. But a tactic used by the IRA was to put a big bomb and a little one near to each other. The little bomb being the one which went off first to "attract attention".

Re:Free advertisement.. er.. low cost.

[aussie_a]

As they say, "no press is bad press.." Has the press in America even been negative? The one news piece I saw of it highlighted the ridiculousness of the government's response to the advertisements. So $2M for good press in circles that quite likely would have gone unawares of the show is a pretty good deal I imagine in anyone major company's book.

America is actually populated by Americans

[s 3 7 c -]

Guys this scare didn't happen in some backwater school this time like it has before (http://kotaku.com/gaming/crime/xbox-live-leads-to -school-lockdown-231374.php). Everyone on these posts has sworn how stupid people would have to be to think these things were bombs (and they are totally correct) but who was it that thought these things were bombs then? This isn't those Americans everyone likes to rag on for being easy to scare-monger. This was in a clued-up metro area in touch with world affairs. They are some of the most informed citizens in the U.S.A. This is you, or your neighbour, or your Dad, or your friend.

I just moved to America, and I'm shocked and horrified how many edgy conversations you guys have about how the world is after you. It's egocentric to believe the rest of the world has nothing to do but plot your demise, but that's beside the point. It's up to every individual to get over this crap. If you the citizens of America stop having everyday conversations about how terrorists may or may not be beating at the gates, you'll stop giving them power.

And if I hear another person invoke 9/11 like it's an excuse for this kind of farce to ever take place I'll just lmao. I hardly think you can compare a hijacked aeroplane to a kid's toy flipping you off. I'm just saying that you can't make an association between what is clearly a marketing ploy and a terrorist attack unless you are trying your damndest to do so.

Re:What comes in mind when making this ad?

[shreevatsa]

Bruce Schneier posted about this a couple of days ago. You should read it for an excellent (and depressing) collection of stupid quotes from the authorities.

Governor Deval Patrick told the Associated Press: "It's a hoax -- and it's not funny."

It was not a hoax (they weren't trying to make them look like bombs), and it is funny. It's interesting how these signs were around in 10 cities for two weeks (including Boston) in very public places, and only in Boston and only now did someone decide to freak out and bring traffic to a halt. Someone joked:

"It's almost too easy to be a terrorist these days," said Jennifer Mason, 26. "You stick a box on a corner and you can shut down a city."

I also like this parody picture.

Re:two guys still face charges

[walnutmon]

I am certain they will be aquited, it is the most frivilous case I have heard of in quite some time... This isn't even someone shouting fire in a movie theater. It is one of those rare occasions that no analogy could be more obviously silly than what actually happend. They planted light brights around the town and are being charged as if they were making bomb threats...

The interview with them was priceless, all the reporters got them and were dying for some great sound bytes for their story. All they got was the two goofballs talking about hair styles throughout history. Truly classic stuff.

An actual bomb scare in Boston = No Charges!

[NFN_NLN]

Put up flashing lights == Charges

Plant a fake bomb (made to look like a bomb) == No Charges

"In the hospital incident, investigators believe a former hospital employee planted the phony bomb in an office at 185 Harrison Ave. He has been identified but has not been charged, the sources said."

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg ?articleid=180349
Same city, same cops, same time period... what gives???

Re:Free advertisement.. er.. low cost.

[baldass_newbie]

Yes. I am also aware that Boston has the largest concentration of votes and is ground zero in the nanny state mentality that Massachusetts seems to embrace.
Didn't know I need to point that out.
What is your point?

Re:Free advertisement.. er.. low cost.

[Skater]

Your comment made me curious about the population of Massachusetts outside the Boston Metropolitan Area, so I thought I'd look up the numbers quickly:

Population of Massachusetts in 2005: 6,433,367 (source)
Population of the Boston Metropolitan Statistical Area for those parts in Massachusetts in 2005: 3,997,744 (source)

So, over 60% of the people in Massachusetts are in or near Boston.

Re:Free advertisement.. er.. low cost.

[ArcherB]

...Also, I believe what the GP called "reccomending people use duct tape and plastic sheeting to protect themselves from terrorists" was nothing more than an official (I don't even think it was Tom Ridge) recommending duct tape as part of an emergency kit to have around... along with fresh water, canned goods and so on. He was saying it was good to have for any type of disaster, not just terrorism. Some people took it out of context and turned their house into a fish bowl. However this was not Tom Ridge's fault as the GP suggests.

Re:Please stop right there...

[Dun Malg]

Boston, and to a lesser extent, the Feds, way overreacted to the situation. Indeed, what we see here is the interaction of two groups of morons. The idiot authorities, who are so hyped up on terror alert juice that a home-made electronic blinky sign looks like a "potential bomb"; and the dopes who put up the signs, who should have easily predicted what the aforementioned idiot authorities would think of an anonymously placed electronic blinky sign.

Re:Slashdot is a funny place

[DavidTC]

I always through we should just stick (sheathed) knifes up with the oxygen masks.

But handing them to all adults as they enter the plane works just as well. Better yet, randomly hand none, one, two, or even three to adults, so they can't be forced to surrender them, because no one knows how many they have.