# Aqua Teen "hoax" in Boston **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 31, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326 "2007-01-31T21:29:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/101 "2007-02-01T11:00:58Z")
Errrh… my mother didn’t know Space Invaders from a hole in the ground, but when she noticed the one that’s picked out in tile in a tunnel in San Sebastian, she didn’t freak out. She said “what’s that?” and I said “oh! It looks like a _marcianito_! Aaaaancient computer game…” Later I found out that there are similar signs in many places. Maybe we should be careful not to let Bostonians travel to towns with Space Invaders? They are among us! ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/102 "2007-02-01T11:13:06Z")
[QUOTE=dnooman] It seems to me that this illustrates why terrorism is “working”. It’s starting to require us to strike a balance between abject paranoia, and complacency. [/QUOTE] I agree. This is a pretty succinct metaphor for the war on terror, if you ask me. [QUOTE=Khan] Let me reiterate: stop calling it a hoax. It was not a hoax. Calling it a hoax gives credibility to these ego-wounded shits trying to not look like ego-wounded shits. The lite-brites were not meant to look like bombs, they were supposed to look like rat-bastard Atari sprites from the moon. IT WAS NOT A HOAX. It is a FUCKING LIE to say that they were. I hope at least these poor guys’ lawyers aren’t too mouth-breathingly stupid to realize that, unlike the geniuses in the department of homeland security. [/QUOTE] …I agree. Here’s what Adult Swim had to say in a bumper they aired before an episode of Futurama tonight: > [@Adult Swim](#): > > We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger. > > We appreciate the gravity of this situation and, like any responsible company would, we are putting all necessary resources towards understanding the facts surrounding it as quickly as possible. > > As soon as we realized that an element of the campaign was being mistaken for something potentially dangerous, appropriate law enforcement officials were notified and through Federal law enforcement channels, we identified the specific locations of the advertisements in all ten cities in which they are posted. > > We also directed the third-party marketing firm who posted the advertisements to take them down immediately. > > We appreciate the commitment demonstrated by the Boston Police Department and other law enforcement agencies, as well as the Massachusetts Governor’s Office, and deeply regret the hardships experienced as a result of this incident. > > [adult swim] ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/103 "2007-02-01T11:33:47Z")
[QUOTE=BubbaDog] People in Oklahoma city didn’t think one would look like a pickup truck. People in New York didn’t think one would look like a 767. And for some strange reason I have to remove my shoes before I can get on a plane. [/QUOTE] Except for the shoes, bombs that are placed under bridges, etc., as a previous poster mentioned are fairly **big**. I have a friend who was deployed in the first Gulf War as an Army combat engineer, or as he put it, usually a fancy term for blowing stuff up. He says it’d take hundreds of pounds of C4 to take out a bridge. If you’re going to make a small bomb, it either has to be placed near several people to kill them or put on something relatively delicate and important. Maybe Richard Reid thought he’d rip a small hole in the side of the plane and make it crash that way. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/104 "2007-02-01T12:34:46Z")
> [@](#): > > “[T]here’s absolutely no place for [hoaxes] in a post-9/11 world,” [Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ] Knocke said. Wow, who’da thought 9/11 would get a mention. It’s the new reason for everything, you know. Mention “9/11” and suddenly the rest of the syllables issuing from your maw no longer have to make any sense whatsoever: you are RIGHT in the eyes of the LORD. Amen. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/105 "2007-02-01T12:59:38Z")
This is over reaction by idiot officals, about a minor ordinance violation, by advertisers that should have thought to get permits, being expected to pay for the governments embarassment. They shouldn’t be paying more than the fine for advertising without a permit or in a place it’s not allowed. I have to remember the person that found themselves in trouble, because their lunch fell off their wheel chair on the way to work, and the bomb squad had to disarm it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/106 "2007-02-01T13:48:28Z")
Actually, having seen a photo of the “device”, I’d say it was a crummy, pisspoor way to advertise _anything_. This, setting aside the whole “bomb/notbomb” thing. You could do better with a guy wearing a sandwich board sign. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/107 "2007-02-01T14:05:51Z")
I think that people who are saying the reaction was justified need to look at the picture a little closer. Specifically, try and imagine what it looks like **from the side**. That I can tell, outside of the batteries, the thing is about two milimeters thick. It’s just a plastic board, like a clipboard. You tell me how to hide a bomb inside a clipboard and then I’ll think that the scare was justified. Until then, I have to imagine that this is mostly a case of the police having to come down hard so that they don’t look stupid–even though they didn’t do anything stupid but rather just did exactly as they are bound to do by their profession when a bomb threat comes in. Most of what made this into an issue was probably the news reporting about “bombs” without ever asking the police what they had actually found. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/108 "2007-02-01T14:16:41Z")
It’s said “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” The Cartoon Network could not buy this type of advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/109 "2007-02-01T14:19:59Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] It’s said “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” The Cartoon Network could not buy this type of advertising. [/QUOTE] Next year, _Aqua Teen_ will have a special “All-Bombs/All-Terrorist” episode. Just wait & see. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/110 "2007-02-01T14:22:12Z")
I’m kind of staggered by people who think that an unknown object, featuring what looks like an obvious triggering device, fixed to the structural support of the major highway out of Boston, is to be laughed off as a “lite-brite.” It wasn’t a lite-brite, and didn’t even resemble a lite-brite. in fact, the one at Sullivan Square that caused the initial panic couldn’t possibly have had its lights working, or someone would have noticed it before now, since thousands of people – including me – pass through there, even after dark. The police did the exact right thing, and the Cartoon Network and several of its employees are going to get nailed. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/111 "2007-02-01T14:28:25Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] The police did the exact right thing, and the Cartoon Network and several of its employees are going to get nailed. [/QUOTE] Under what law? It was not a hoax device, it was an advertising device. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/112 "2007-02-01T14:33:57Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] I was about to post a similar pit. I can’t imagine anything more stupid than this stunt. To place a simulated bomb under the support of a major highway, and 12 feet above a bus shelter that serves thousands of people every day – in this day and age? The Cartoon Network needs to get its ass sued, because, as I can attest – my office window faces the supposed bomb site – this was a major, major disruption. [/QUOTE] Same here _shaking head_ What’s irking me more are the number of people laughing their asses over how the city responded to it – everything from “No wonder why our taxes are too high!” to “Um duh, don’t you have anything better to do?” Um, NO. If the devices were made to look like bombs, then sorry, it HAS to be treated as such. Stupid motherfucking Cartoon Network. Maybe whoever sues them will make CN declare bankruptancy. He who laughs last… ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/113 "2007-02-01T14:37:45Z")
Not “people”, **Sal**. Police officers. Who are supposed to keep their heads when all about them are losing theirs. They did the right thing in inspecting it. They did not do the right thing in flying off the handle and slapping the guys who put up the devices with a **felony hoax charge**. As has already been stated, several times, the ad agency did not perpetrate a hoax. Boston PD panicked, and now these people are going to be punished for the PD’s reaction. It didn’t happen in other cities. It was **not** inevitable. But now they have felony charges. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/114 "2007-02-01T14:41:46Z")
"Lite-Bright, giving Menino a Fright…! Over-reaction’s just the thing with Lite-Bright…" Now available in the new “Creativity = Terrorism” 9-11 edition. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/115 "2007-02-01T14:50:36Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] I’m kind of staggered by people who think that an unknown object, featuring what looks like an obvious triggering device, fixed to the structural support of the major highway out of Boston, is to be laughed off as a “lite-brite.” It wasn’t a lite-brite, and didn’t even resemble a lite-brite. in fact, the one at Sullivan Square that caused the initial panic couldn’t possibly have had its lights working, or someone would have noticed it before now, since thousands of people – including me – pass through there, even after dark. The police did the exact right thing, and the Cartoon Network and several of its employees are going to get nailed. [/QUOTE] The police may or may not have done the right thing. But once they discovered what had happened, what they should have done was be men and laughed about it, instead of throwing tantrums and screaming about how they are so serious and people need to go to jail for all their sweet time. Seriously, the price of a ridiculous level of vigilance is, predictably, going to be some accidental false alarms that are nobody’s fault, really. But apparently, that’s not good enough. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/116 "2007-02-01T15:00:49Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Under what law? It was not a hoax device, it was an advertising device. [/QUOTE] Good lawyers may differ. But CN can certainly be nailed for damages in civil court, I would think. And I’d also expect a few people to lose their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/117 "2007-02-01T15:06:27Z")
[QUOTE=Apos] The police may or may not have done the right thing. But once they discovered what had happened, what they should have done was be men and laughed about it… [/QUOTE] Except that it wasn’t all that funny. And the last thing the police want is for another marketing exec to say, “You know what? That stunt was a resounding success, since it increased awareness of that show by a thousand percent. I’m going to do the same thing, only I’m going to make my shit look even more like a bomb!” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/118 "2007-02-01T15:37:39Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Good lawyers may differ. But CN can certainly be nailed for damages in civil court, I would think. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but you have to have a legal basis for fixing responsibility for damages. I am wondering what that might be. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/119 "2007-02-01T15:44:42Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Good lawyers may differ. But CN can certainly be nailed for damages in civil court, I would think. And I’d also expect a few people to lose their jobs. [/QUOTE] The police chief, mayor, head of the bomb squad… ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326/120 "2007-02-01T15:49:48Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Except that it wasn’t all that funny. And the last thing the police want is for another marketing exec to say, “You know what? That stunt was a resounding success, since it increased awareness of that show by a thousand percent. I’m going to do the same thing, only I’m going to make my shit look even more like a bomb!” [/QUOTE] Then they shouldn’t have given ATHF so much free publicity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aqua-teen-hoax-in-boston/390326.md?page=7)