The Cartoon Promo That Went Bad

I was driving yesterday as I heard the breaking news that Boston had been virtually shut down. A startling discovery had been made: Suspicious electronic devices had been planted throughout Boston at major strategic areas. Those areas included a major bridge and portions of highway.

These devices were little black circuit boards with a picture of a silly 1980s-style computer game figure flashing his middle finger. This caused authorities to suspect it was a hoax, of course, but it could also have been a nasty message on a detonation device. Wires hung from the devices, and as you can see, there's also something that looks suspicious at the base of it. Bomb squads were called in, and people waited in their cars for hours as the devices were removed.

Eventually it was discovered that the devices were simply an advertising ploy that went terribly wrong. The first to scramble to the mic to apologize was Turner Broadcasting. However, Interference Inc., the advertising firm that they hired, has made no comment yet. Interestingly, their website has been taken down. All that you can get is Google's usual synopsis which reads "A nationwide guerilla and alternative marketing agency from idiation through tactile implementation and staffing."

According to a 2001 interview with the CEO of Interference Inc., "Interference, Inc. will use street corner messengers, product samplings, publicity stunts, branded hitchhikers and other "random acts of kindness," anything to deliver a targeted message to a specific market."

The two men that were hired to distribute the devices have been arrested. As authorities pointed out, "Those conducting the campaign should have known the devices could cause panic because they were placed in sensitive areas."

Interestingly, it is most obvious that Turner Broadcasting and Interference Inc. intended these devices to raise a storm of controversy. No one pays for an advertising campaign that will create little or no publicity. The devices were placed in strategic places in 5 or 6 major cities, with the intent to initially frighten the viewer. I think they had assumed that someone would gasp and say "Oh look! A bomb!" and then, a moment later, say "Oh, it couldn't be. It's something cartoon-y. I wonder what it's all about?" However, I also think that they were fully aware that it might result in something this big: That was an added bonus. As one Hollywood promoter once said "There is no such thing as bad publicity."

Here is what should alarm us all: The devices had been planted in 5-6 major cities a couple of weeks ago. And yet, they were only discovered yesterday in one of those cities. If our society is so comfortable in it's denial of potential terrorist attacks, we are all doomed. This lack of alertness is alarming. Homeland Security needs to re-think it's current communications to the public, because they are not working.