Mooninite Scare in Boston

[d_stilgar]

I'm sure by now that you guys have all heard about the Mooninite scare in Boston. The lite-brite like devices were put throughout 10 major cities and caused a real scare you can read and watch at the following links.

My oppinion, had Boston asked around, they would have found out what they were before they went to all the trouble of calling in the bomb squad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM2GoeVZEDY
http://www.theregister.com/2007/02/02/mooninite_terrorists/
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/31/aqua-teen-hunger-force-viral-ads-cause-boston-bomb-scare/
http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/47507/

A related story:
http://www.universalhub.com/taxonomy/term/1753

Enjoy America's new level of retardation.

[tybrenis]

Wow. I understand that it's standard for people to want to investigate, make sure that it isn't a terrorist symbol etc. But seriously. This was SO dumb. I understand the laws quite well, but did we really need a BOMB squad to fix the problem? No. Any teenager could've told you.. "That's Aqua Teen Hunger Force!"

[Crimson Sky]

the guys they hired to put those devices around the cities are complete scumbags. I don't care what the stupid ad was for, they were placing them in areas where advertising doesnt belong, and where someone might want to place a bomb. They even videotaped the bomb squad when it showed up to investigate--and didn't bother to tell them...Nice....

"A train passenger spied the first magnetic object, which looked like circuit boards with protruding wires, attached to a girder under Interstate 93 in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. "

I'd call it in, I don't give a **** what character was on it.

and you don't "ask around" before calling in the experts. Who the hell do you begin to ask in this situation?

"Enjoy America's new level of retardation." I'd be careful with comments like that.

[Ichbin]

Listening to teenagers is overrated, by golly, back in my day we had to walk in the snow..at least....had to press the clutch....

[Durrthock]

They asked us in school what we thought the lesson we could learn from this and I said "Fear The Litebrite"

[nil8]

Sounds like a great way to get publicity. Most rational people take precautions with things that can be construed as bombs, such as calling in the bomb squad.

In my hometown, it was done for 2 containers of juice left in a milkcrate on the steps of the library.

Better safe than sorry. That's why we have a bomb squad.

[Slug Toy]

haha, i got a kick out of this whole incident. very entertaining. sounds like something my brother would do.

i didnt see this myself, but apparently they interviewed the people who put up those "ads". i guess they werent interested in talking about the ads themselves because apparently one of them said "lets get this straight, we're talking about 70's haircuts."

[d_stilgar]

I think the stupidest part is that instead of saying, "We investigated and were misled, but it is better to be safe than sorry," they said "Whoever did this is going to be punished in every possible way the law allows." The fact is that everyone wastes time and money somewhere. In this case, I do not think that it was a waste of the police time and money to investigate. It could've been a serious thing. But to then say that someone else should pay for that is silly. I could wear pantyhose as a fashion statement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSeDgvjMpTM) and not be surprised when people run away from me in every store I enter or call the police, but I would not expect to be arrested for hanging 300ish lite-brites around a city.

They could be charged with littering, vandalism, and a few other petty charges, but charging them with terrorism is too much. The things they made were not made to look like bombs. I admit that they placed them in some stupid places, where they were more likely to be viewed as a possible threat, but they still did not look like any bomb that has ever been made.

I also think that their conduct in the interview was good and bad. A simple, "no comment" or "no questions please" would have sufficed. At the same time, I do not see the big reason to take it so seriously. Guerrilla advertising has been taking place for a long time in big cities. When I was in NYC last there were the numbers "666" spraypainted in a circle all over the city sidewalks. I wondered what they were and had no clue until I saw previews for the movie "The Omen". These were not supposed to be the ad for the movie themselves, but a visual trigger. You were meant to remember them when you saw the ad later. People in NYC didn't even react to them. I guess they are just used to that kind of advertising.

[Indybird]

When I first found out what it really was, I was amazed. I couldn't believe people thought they were bombs! I understand the wires and circuitry hanging out but I gotta tell you: If I saw something like that I would assume it was some sort of advertisement. Also these were up for almost 3 weeks! (in 8 major cities) and nobody complained about them until then (and only in Boston.)

As much as I support Williams Street/ATHF I have to admit they did put these in pretty suspicious places (under bridges, in subways, at major intersections), and they did not have an advertisement license that covered that kind of ad.

In my opinion I believe they should only get fined for advertising without the proper license. The mayor of the city, however has his/her heart set on getting them in huge trouble for this. My favorite (and most ridiculous) possible conviction is "Aiding Terrorists". When you can explain Boston's sudden fear and how that was Aiding Terrorists then maybe I'll think otherwise.

Now that I'm done ranting, its time to go to sleep. :up:

[SgtM]

IMO, the people putting those out should have been in contact with the local authorities from the word go, and they're the ones at fault. Yes, people tend to overreact since 9/11, BUT at least they're being proactive.

[Reyer]

hey i saw one of thoes,
it was in seattle on a revolving sign

i pointed to it and asked waht it was

that was about 2 weeks agot



i think the whole deal is funny, and people should relax

[d_stilgar]

ah man. I wish I had one. I don't want to spend $500 on an ebay one though. But having a piece of silly "history" like this would be kinda cool IMO.

[Crimson Sky]

There's also this to consider now-- what a great place to hide bombs, in advertisment displays. Now we know better. Its the same reason they removed the garbage cans (or rubbish containers as you say) from the streets of London and other cities. its proactive. it saves lives.

[DaveW]

Watch how you generalize.


If they taught any of you Euro's about the American Revolution, you should know this.

Oxymorons (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-32,GGGL:en&defl=en&q=define:Oxymoron&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title), anybody?

This was a stupid thing to do. The 'Bostonians' reacted properly and i would expect our Government to do exactly the same thing. This is how we managed to stop a third lot of bombs from striking the London Underground-we got already missed a second but got lucky when none of the devices bar one exploded. The one that did explode was so badly built that it did no harm to it's 'suicice pilot'. The bomber was then tackled by an off-duty fireman. He escaped and was captured later.

Learning from this, we managed to prevent a third bomb run.

-Dave

[d_stilgar]

There's also this to consider now-- what a great place to hide bombs, in advertisment displays.

That was my thought. Now that we have overreacted to one advertisement, we will be slow to react to the next guerrilla ad for fear of looking stupid, and maybe not the next one, but a few down the road, they really will be bombs.


Watch how you generalize. If they taught any of you Euro's about the American Revolution, you should know this.

-Jeremy

I'm from the U.S. I still think that they went about it in a stupid way. I guess in their defense, they did not know that they had already been up for at least two weeks.

[Crimson Sky]

I dont see "Over-reaction" I see Action...I see trained personnel and local government doing their job and investigating suspicious devices. All in a day's work for these guys who put thier life on the line to keep the rest of us safe.

under-reacting is not good for children and other living things. This is what terrorists are up against now---the average Jane and Joe keeping their eyes open for **** thats out of place. Its up to every individual now to help keep their country safe. This is something terrorists never expected. Does this make me paranoid? not in the least. I know that there are 300 million other pairs of eyes doing the same thing.

[gaz_the_chav]

So what actually were these 'Mooninite's' then? I have watched and read but I still can't really work it out.

-gaz

[Ichbin]

What they did was a trying to tell an "Inside Joke" to the outside, and some people didn't get it. And with any inside jokes that get taken outside of the inside (Lol) someone takes offense or gets edgy/awkward about it.

It was a good idea, presented badly by the guys at adult swim.

But the media kind of blew it out of proportion, but they do that anyways with anything.

[Airbozo]

What they did was a trying to tell an "Inside Joke" to the outside, and some people didn't get it. And with any inside jokes that get taken outside of the inside (Lol) someone takes offense or gets edgy/awkward about it.

It was a good idea, presented badly by the guys at adult swim.

But the media kind of blew it out of proportion, but they do that anyways with anything.

They way I heard it they were making a mockery of the whole event. Their lawyers told them not to comment on the case and they went off on some stupid ass nonsense that made them sound callous and, well immature. There was no need for the press to blow it out of proportion, they did all the harm. Should have just taken their lawyers advice and shut the hell up. In fact, when in a similar situation, best advice: speak ONLY when spoken to, don't volunteer information and don't ramble nonsense, it only pisses people off.

If there is one thing to learn from this, let the authorities know when you want to do something dumb that could affect many people. They should charge them with littering, illegal posting of advertisements and if there was a charge for it; being a pompous ass (of course we couldn't build prisons fast enough to keep up with the last one).

[Crimson Sky]

a charge for an unbathed white boy wearing dirty, matted and most likely cheese-smelling dreads would be nice as well.

ass-clowns.

[nil8]

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=mooninites&btnG=Google+Search&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

That's a mooninite.

As long as they aren't charged with some nonsense about being terrorists or terrorism.

All news is biased. Almost every thought or idea has some bias behind it, even if it is presented in a manner that seems to be nothing but fact. Be biased, just present your argument to the best of your ability.

On a different note, Boston has some of the best cod in the country.

[Airbozo]

a charge for an unbathed white boy wearing dirty, matted and most likely cheese-smelling dreads would be nice as well.

ass-clowns.

hehhehhehhehhehhe ahhh I need some laughter today...

[d_stilgar]

The media kind of blew it out of proportion, but they do that anyways with anything.

That is what I really meant by the "America's new level of retardation." I didn't mean that anyone was stupid for investigating the ads, but that the way the media reacted is. I also think it is stupid all the things the guys are being charged with.

As for the comments stating that they should've contacted the authorities before posting them is also silly. They never intended for them to look like bombs. And guerrilla advertising is about putting up stealthy ads. Could you imagine the phone call to the authorities if they did try to talk to them first?

"Hello, yes. I am calling to inform you that I am going to be illegally posting LED signs around the city. It is an ad for a cartoon show aimed at adults. I will not be removing the signs ever, and after the batteries die, they will no longer be illegally posted advertisements, but some more urban garbage. Oh, and by the way, they look nothing like a bomb, but someone might mistake them for being one, so don't worry if someone calls one in. They will say that it looks like a lite-brite flipping them off. Okay, that is all. Bye."

I would be more suspicious of the signs being bombs after that phone call than I ever would be after seeing one.

[Ironcat]

I am 100% and then some in agreement with Paul on this one.
A terrorist is not defined as someone who beheads civilian contractors, or even someone who bombs buildings... a terrorist is simply someone who spreads terror.

These guys planted their devices, and someone said they taped the bomb squads? So they knew full well what reaction the government (albeit local city government at that point) was having, and they HAD to know how the average citizen would be freaking out when a terror alert of any sort is issued, much less to actually have any sot of hazmat or ordinance disposal come down your street.

These guys need to have the whole weight of the law dropped firmly on their necks and if whoever hired them knew what they were planning and did nothing, they are just as responsible.

If I would have seen some guy planting a lite brite looking wired box under a bridge, I would have taken him out myself and risked explaining myself to a jury afterwards.

[luciusad2004]

If I would have seen some guy planting a lite brite looking wired box under a bridge, I would have taken him out myself and risked explaining myself to a jury afterwards.

That would IMO be a very wise decision, even if it did turn out to be just a toy. I remember not to long ago watching a show on the history channel about a plot to hide bombs in toys and smuggle them on to planes. Knowing that, toys hidden in suspicious places are very well a threat to safety.

I don't know much about what this was, but from what i got from the thead these guys just placed a bunch of illegal advertisements that caused chaos. IMO they should be punished, i don't think they should be labeled terrorists but they should at least receive a hefty fine, if not a bit of jail time.

[DaveW]

I dont see "Over-reaction" I see Action...I see trained personnel and local government doing their job and investigating suspicious devices. All in a day's work for these guys who put thier life on the line to keep the rest of us safe.

Damn right man. That's exactly what i was trying to say. :)

-Dave

[Airbozo]

...cheese-smelling dreads ...
...

...and again, the real question is: "Will they blend?"

[Crimson Sky]

Cartoon Network boss quits over bomb scare

Jim Samples is taking the fall for the marketing debacle at Turner Broadcasting.

February 9 2007: 3:17 PM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The head of Cartoon Network resigned Friday after the network's guerilla marketing scheme for one of its shows went bad last week and led to a bomb scare in Boston - a fiasco that cost its parent company $2 million.
In a letter to employees, Jim Samples, the general manager and executive vice president of the network, wrote: "I deeply regret the negative publicity and expense caused to our company as a result of this campaign. As general manager of Cartoon Network, I feel compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch."

[d_stilgar]

Well, at least one guy takes it partially serious. Resigning is a but much, but I'm glad that he recognizes that no matter who is at fault (I think everyone shares at least some), it has turned into a big deal whether he likes it or not. I hope he finds work somewhere else.