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

Free advertisement.. er.. low cost.

[adam]

I'm sure I won't be the only person to reply and point out that hours of national TV exposure (and subsequent stories, etc) are worth at LEAST $2M. As they say, "no press is bad press.."

Furthermore, think about how many people (on the fringes of their target demographics) that hadn't heard of ATHF are now keenly aware of the show? With the movie coming up.. yea.. $2M is cheap.

FTFA: "Ms. Coakley said the amount was more than the state would have obtained through litigation. The settlement shields the companies from civil or criminal liability by state and local agencies, Ms. Coakley said."

..and frankly, in the end, they may not have been liable for any of this anyhow.. since it was mostly just the Boston police/whomever being semi-retarded. But $2M is a small price to pay for the publicity they got, and now the goodwill of paying "more than their fair share" towards homeland security and what the authorities even term as "goodwill funds."

Too bad ATHF jumped the shark a bit (IMHO) after season 3. And even more bad that the two poor schmucks working for the ad agency are still charged with crimes. They should be set free, and whatever moron phoned in a litebrite as a "bomb" (and the corresponding police moron who agreed with him) should be looking at potential liability. 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? The sad fact is that our society has become so stupid and centered around sensationalist events that terrorists don't even need to make bombs anymore.. just scatter throughout several major cities a few dozen briefcases with litebrites affixed to them, and watch the panic ensue.

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

[Stormwatch]

Does anybody remember the post-9/11 homeland security debacle with Tom Ridge reccomending people use duct tape and plastic sheeting [chicagotribune.com] to protect themselves from terrorists.. and then several people dying by asphyxiating themselves in their own homes?

Butbutbut... duct tape fixes ANYTHING!!!

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

[clickety6]

International TV exposure. It's all over Europe, too, and probably other parts of the world.

And over here, it's causing more laughter than the ATHF film ever will ;-)

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

[scatters]

Snopes has an article sourced from AP about 3 Israelis who died as a result from suffocation in a duct tape and plastic sheeted room. Technically they died because their coal burning heat source consumed all of the oxygen, but that probably only changed the length of time before they ran out of air...

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/ducttape.asp

Also, the article summary states that Boston and the feds are treating the sign board debacle as an "Act of terrorism". TFA, uses the term "fears or terrorism". For fuck's sake, can we have a little honesty in the headlines? Pretty please.

And lastly, it's a little bit ironic that the agency responsible for the campaign is called Interference, Inc...

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

[cdrudge]

No. That would be silly. But once rigor starts setting in, spraying the joints with WD-40 will make them movable again.

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

[Broken scope]

Oh please, for a country that had made itself "safer" since 9/11 we are still scared shitless by our own shadow on a daily basis. We are going to live like this too until people accept one simple fact. Shit happened, shit will still happen, and no amount of perceived "security" is going to change that simple fact. There is only so much you can do to prevent a determined enemy. We need to learn to live with the fact that we are not living in a safe world and get back to a point where we can live our lives without being scared of everything. Until that day, the terrorists are winning because we live in fear.

"Goodwill funds?"

[Mex]

I assume that's legalese for a bribe?

Re:"Goodwill funds?"

[macadamia_harold]

Yeah, but wait until they get to the bank:

Mayor Menino: This isn't even a check, it's a bill!
Ignignokt: No it is a check, tell him Err.
Err: It's a bill.
Ignignokt: It's a...! Why the hell are we trying to cash a bill!?

two guys still face charges

[batray]

The ones who ordered and paid for the stunt face no charges, but the two guys who put them up as their job do.

Re:two guys still face charges

[continuouslife]

Did you really say 'retarted'? Twice?

What comes in mind when making this ad?

[lemmen]

What were the ad guys thinking when they made this ad? In a country/world full of fears you just don't place boxes with lights in a city. That is asking for troubles...

Re:What comes in mind when making this ad?

[Anonymous Coward]

This incident just points up how vigilant we must be now that Everything Has Changed.

Now rationally no one would put a bomb, even a bomb the size of a D cell, on something with bright flashing lights in the shape of late-night cartoon characters because it would be totally obvious to even a mindless self-serving attention-hungry bureaucrat who can't take a joke and is afraid he/she (he) might end up looking like even more of a total chump if he admitted he/she (he) was taken for a chump...gasp...that making a bomb look this way would only attract undue attention; bored boarding school youths would steal them; bums would urinate on them; etc...

BUT say the terrorists: "since this is the last way anyone would ever expect us to plant a bomb, that makes it the perfect way to crush the unsuspecting infidel's vital infrastructure! Especially since our fiendish masterminds have just invented the most terrible explosive ever known to human kind, called ultramegatronium, that can level an entire bridge or airport with a single charge exactly the size and shape of D cell. Naturally we'd have to use ultramegatronium since a D cell full of any other explosive would be utterly pointless to use to try to use against a bridge or other permanent structure."

Now in the olden days they would have tried to conceal the bomb in a piece of trash, or encased in a bridge/building colored box, or hidden in a bag of groceries, or carried in a backpack, or driven in a car, or sewed up in the belly of an unusually large possum, or disguised to look like a rock, or a placed inside a bland piece of steel tubing, or wrapped up in a garbage bag, or carried by a bum they paid $5 for the job (with a $2 bonus for not urinating on it), or painted to look like a brick, or....you know, like that. BUT BUT BUT, these days we expect that all our bridges and buildings are going to get blown up in that manner, so random rocks and pieces of trash are immediately and necessarily suspect, and always disposed of in short order by the bomb squad. So you can't hide a bomb anymore. Instead, the bomb has to have bright flashing lights so people will ignore it.

Ha, but now we're on to 'em! So that scheme won't work anymore. Of course, they know that we're on to them so they have to go back to camouflage, except we know that they know that we know, so they're going to use bright flashing lights after all, except they also know that we know that they know that we know...

Anyway, the point is everything is probably a bomb made from ultramegatronium and you can never be too scared, and this proves the officials in charge of the hysteria aren't complete doofuses after all.

Re:What comes in mind when making this ad?

[Anonymous Coward]

Now in the olden days they would have tried to conceal the bomb in a piece of trash, or encased in a bridge/building colored box, or hidden in a bag of groceries, or carried in a backpack, or driven in a car, or sewed up in the belly of an unusually large possum, or disguised to look like a rock, or a placed inside a bland piece of steel tubing, or wrapped up in a garbage bag, or carried by a bum they paid $5 for the job (with a $2 bonus for not urinating on it), or painted to look like a brick, or....you know, like that. BUT BUT BUT, these days we expect that all our bridges and buildings are going to get blown up in that manner, so random rocks and pieces of trash are immediately and necessarily suspect, and always disposed of in short order by the bomb squad. So you can't hide a bomb anymore. Instead, the bomb has to have bright flashing lights so people will ignore it.

If you call up the police and report that you think there's a bomb (as someone did) then they will bring in the bomb squad and they will treat it very seriously. Even if the object in question looks like (and is) a lite brite. This has been true at least the 1990s, and has probably been true as long as 'bomb squads' have existed.

The astonishing thing about this case is not that the authorities treated a lighted sign like it was a bomb. That's exactly what their job is. If you report something is a bomb, they treat it that way, whether it looks like a car, a cardboard box, a stuffed animal... or a cute LED sign giving you the finger.

No, the astonishing thing is that, even after the cops blew the thing apart with water (revealing a total lack of explosive components), they continued to tell the media that it was a suspicious device and that there were more suspicious devices located in key areas of the city. That's where someone really screwed up big time.

Re:What comes in mind when making this ad?

[hey!]

I agree it wasn't a hoax. And it's funny on many levels, just not the intended one. The original "guerilla marketing" campaign was just stupid. Turner lucked out on the publicity they got -- well worth two million.

The authorities mishandled the response. Not by treating it a potential bomb scare after the "suspicious devices" had been reported; that was appropriate. But by making the all to human mistake of attributing malice to the perpetrator. Naturally, they were miffed at all the disruption, but, as we're seeing right here on /. they are undermining their own credibility.
If I were governor, my response would have been this:

"These devices are not bombs, they are advertising gimmicks. There is no danger. But the individuals who reported them as a suspicious device did the right thing, as the police who responded did. I'd like to stress two important things. First, anybody in the future who sees a suspicious device should treat it as dangerous and report it to the police. They should NOT assume it is safe because the devices in this case were safe. It is important to remain vigilant, even though it is inevitable most terrorist scares will be false alarms. Second: nobody should place devices such as this in public places where they can cause a nuisance like this. Unfortunately, we cannot train every citizen in recognizing bombs or in terrorist tactics. So if you are use your common sense.

We have no reason to believe that the people who placed these devices had any malice. It's an understandable mistake. Although the costs of the response were considerable, some false alarms in the fight against terrorism are unavoidable. We will discuss this matter with the people who did this, and naturally we will welcome any help they are willing to offer with defraying the costs, but we should not lose sight of an important lesson this situation can teach us. We should neither panic, nor relax our guard in the struggle against terror. If we learn that, then this may have been the best money we've spent yet on terrorism prevention.

Municipalities should develop ordinances and permitting programs for such advertising programs. Advertisers should use their common sense. In the future there will be no leniency for anybody who tries a stunt like this, in full knowledge of the response it will create."

That's it. It think everybody in this situation was behaving reasonably, based on the information they had at their disposal, up to the point where the authorities decided to call it a "hoax". This is a lesson I'm always drilling my children in: don't jump to conclusions about the motivations of others. Don't say somebody is picking a fight when they bump into you. Don't say somebody is stealing when they pick something up that belongs to you. Don't think somebody is trying to hurt your feelings when they happen to say something that bothers you. It feels right and good at the time, but in the end you create a bigger problem for yourself than the one you imagined.

WTF?

[GFree]

What kind of dumbass assume that glowing lights = bomb?

A real bomb is never designed to make itself presentable/noticable. Only a dickhead terrorist would invite attention to a bomb. Am I the only one who see the logic in this?

(NB. I hail from Australia and as such am not used to paranoia, yet).

Re:WTF?

[Ihlosi]

What kind of dumbass assume that glowing lights = bomb?

Someone who gets all of his knowledge about bombs from Hollywood movies.

Only a dickhead terrorist would invite attention to a bomb.

Or Hollywood movie villain terrorists.

Boston's full of fucking morons.

[Jackie_Chan_Fan]

Lets start with the mayor, Mayor Menino. He's a fucking retard. A blowhole of political mumbo jumbo. Listen to some of his speeches.

Mayor Menino cant take a joke. This is well established, just ask Opie and Anthony on XM sat radio and cbs radio... Who both lost their jobs as a result of saying that the mayor had died on the air during an April fools show. He wanted them fired, arrested, and their stations broadcasting license revoked.

He's doing the same again. As we all know, he has gone as far as to call the Ignignot and Err "Light Bright" displays as "Hoax bombs". A hoax bomb is not a random item left on various buildings. People often leave things around such as backpacks by accident. Are these hoax bombs?

A hoax bomb is something that looks like a bomb. Perhaps toilet paper rolls painted red with a calculator crudely wired to them. That is a hoax bomb.

These were fucking "Light Brights" with artwork on them. No anonymous phone calls to the police saying "look out, we're the mooninites and we're gonna blow the fuck out of your city... we're everywhere!" That would be a hoax bomb situation.

These are billboards.... posters... fucking light brights.

2million isnt a bad deal, considering the histerical free press they received. 70's hair cuts... are so fucking bad ass.

I'm glad they did this. It makes the Mayor of Boston look like a fucking moron. It makes the press look like fucking morons. It makes Adult Swim look funny and politically wise. This country needs a little fucking with. Adult Swim is evidence of it, that many people not only want to create counter culture experiences, but also seek them out because of the current ass twisted state of our society. We need a good fucking with, for our own good.

They weren't hoax bombs... they were silly light brights... and i want one :)

Watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Adult Swim. It's funny and full of random nonsense. These guys are my heros. Not only was it a great idea, but when it became a big stinking "hoax bomb" situation in dumb fuck Boston... It became a good opportunity to make fun of the press and that stupid fucking Mayor Menino.

Bravo... "and i'm doing this as hard as i can"

Re:Boston's full of fucking morons.

[Dilaudid]

I think it's great to see a media company making a $2m grant for the benefit of the mentally disabled. My apologies to anyone reading this who is genuinely mentally disabled, I can understand your annoyance at being compared with these clowns.

Re:well...

[meme lies]

It may have cost them $2 million, but the amount of coverage (read: free advertising) they got for the upcoming ATHF movie is almost immeasurable.

Seems to me they'll need an immeasurable amount of publicity for the movie, since it doesn't seem like one single person in Boston was able to recognize an ATHF character.

Im still just...

[n33kos]

Surprised honestly..

I saw one of these "devices" (or one almost exactly like it) almost a year ago to the day on vacation in Seattle. Ya know what I did? I smiled. I smiled because it was a clever way to advertise (and because I knew what it was from). Nevertheless, when I looked at it I still would have realized it wasn't a bomb. It was flipping me off, not ticking.

If we painted all stupid people orange. Then we would know to just stay away from those ones.

24

[pedestrian crossing]

What kind of dumbass assume that glowing lights = bomb?

It's part of what I call the "24" effect (after the Fox Network program 24).

More and more you see people's attitudes toward terrorism and law enforcement being molded by what they see on 24.

On 24, bombs all have blinking lights that count down.

On 24, Jack Bauer -must- torture the terrorist suspect -now- to stop the terrorist attack that is about to happen. No time for legal procedures, they must be stopped now!

People are starting to really believe that shit...

Re:Slashdot is a funny place

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

Camouflage can work in two ways. Blending in OR pretending to be something different. Perhaps even standing out in such a way that everybody ignores you. If you had to be on the street unnoticed in broad daylight what would work better, a camo outfit OR looking like a homeless beggar?

By your logic, ANYTHING could be a fucking bomb. The trash can could be (or contain) a bomb. The mailbox could. Maybe that ATM that's broken isn't a real ATM. Maybe that pile of newspapers isn't a real pile of newspapers. Maybe that beggar is a TERRORIST!!!!!

The fact is, THERE AREN'T MANY TERRORISTS. Terrorist attacks ARE NOT AND HAVE NEVER BEEN COMMON IN THE US.

9/11 happened with innocent box-cutters when everyone knows they are harmless. If the hijackers had carried machine guns they might not have succeeded (then again, this is airport security we are talking about).

9/11 happened because you cannot stop 9/11. Determined and resourceful people are trying to attack us, and, sooner or later, they will succeed. Terrorists could swallow explosives to get past security. They could use heat-seaking missles to hit jets. They could short a notebook battery and start a fire in the lavatory after stealing the fire extinguishers. They could open a cabin hatch in midflight.

We cannot stop terrorism. That's not to say that we shouldn't try to make it is difficult as possible for the terrorists. But we shouldn't become paranoid or live in fear trying to cover every last possibility. That's impossible.

Now, what shape/look would a terrorist bomb have?

It would look like any other IED - some kind of timing or remote detonation device along with explosives. It doesn't really matter what it looks like, though, because it would be HIDDEN. You don't put explosives in plain sight - there's too much of a chance of them being discovered. You hide them in a vehicle, a mailbox, a trash can, or any of the millions of other out-of-sight places in a city.

If you had to stick on in a public place would you just carry a box of TNT with TNT written on it with you onto a train and hope nobody notices OR would you try to hide it in someway.

The point is that you don't put it in a public place at all. IT MAKES NO SENSE for terrorists to call attention to their devices with bright flashing lights. Whether or not individuals belieive that they are bombs, having your devices so plainly visible makes them infinitely easier to find and diffuse than if they were hidden.

Think of this from the police perspective: if you knew that bombs had been planted in your city, would you want them to be:

A - Brightly lit and placed in conspicuous locations
B - Nondescript devices (e.g. a cardboard box) hidden in trashcans or mailboxes

Which is easier to detect? Which is easier to find?

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:An actual bomb scare in Boston = No Charges!

[faloi]

Get made to look like an idiot in front of the world == Charges

Why did they even agree to pay 2 million?

[gsn]

WTF? IMHO we had some clueless people and public officials who overreacted. Most of Boston did not think this was a bomb. What did we learn from this
a) Thomas Menino is a moron
b) Ed Markey is a moron
c) Martha Coakley is a moron
d) Michael Flaherty is a moron
e) All of the above

"It's outrageous, reckless and totally irresponsible," Flaherty said. "What a waste of resources." Yes it was waste of resources but what was outrageous and reckless wasn't the ad company it was the overreaction. We understand that morons run the city and their overreaction led to the shutdown of the city. They did not act reasonably post Sep 11 or anything - if they looked at the device up close it ought to have been obvious that it was not a bomb. They knocked the first device of the Sullivan Sq MBTA with a fucking water cannon. They KNEW it wasn't a bomb by this point (that or this is standard explosive ordinance disposal procedure in which case I'm moving from Cambridge tomorrow). They might have communicated this and ended the chaos early. No they later blew up one of the devices to make sure it wasn't a bomb.

What else did we learn? When is a bomb not a bomb? When the IED has LEDs on it. Now if I'm a terrorist, the best way to bomb any city in the U.S. would be to stick one of the ATHF banners in front of my actual bomb.

This 2 million isn't a fine - its a little bit of money so that Turner can accept responsibility and these public officials can save face instead of being decried for being thundering morons.