The city of Boston gets a bomb scare in the form of cartoon aliens from outer space. The city was put into high alert after a supposed bomb scare with “suspicious devices” was found located around the city. Did Turner Broadcasting mean to “flip the bird” at the city of Boston?
“It’s a hoax, and it’s not funny,” said Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick of the situation. (Richard Esposito Reports from The Blotter).
Much of the city of Boston was shut down and put on high alert when a mysterious electric package was spotted near a subway. The device had wires coming out of it and was suspected to be a bomb. One would say this was Boston’s finest doing its best to protect the city. However, no one expected what was to happen next.
The suspicious devices were actually part of a publicity stunt by Cartoon Network to advertise the upcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie. Cartoon Network admits to being responsible for this outdoor advertising campaign that resulted in a huge bomb scare for the city of Boston. Officials from Cartoon Network apologized for the incident. The official statement released by Cartoon Network claims that the packages were actually magnetic lights that pose no real danger and say “We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger.”
Boston officials however, may not agree with Cartoon Network’s claims that they were obviously not a threat. A high ranking Boston official claimed that the “devices” were real enough looking that a Bomb Technician decided to detonate one rather than take the chance of it being a real bomb.
Two young marketers were arrested for the stunt. Sean Stevens, 28, and Peter Berdovsky, 27, were charged with placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct and they were both released on a $2,500 bond each. Official reports state that Turner Broadcasting may also be facing charges for this publicity stunt gone wrong.
Cartoon Network executives have told homeland security there are between 20 and 40 more of these devices in cities across the country although they were unable to name the exact location of each device. These devices were also placed in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. After the scare in Boston, executives helped recover the devices in the other cities.
It appears none of the other cities reported the same fear as Boston because they didn’t seem to notice the objects were even there.
Turner Broadcasting has apologized officially in a letter to the city of Boston and it is yet to be determined what else will happen with this case.
