Guerrilla Marketing Bombs in Boston

In full-page advertisements appearing in Boston newspapers today (Friday), Turner Broadcasting Co. apologized for a marketing stunt gone so wrong that the city was plunged into paralysis. The "guerrilla marketing" stunt involved placing battery-driven light boxes that displayed a character from Turner's Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force throughout Boston and other cities. The boxes created a security scare that led to the shutting down of major roads and subway systems. The Boston Globe reported today that Turner had agreed to reimburse the city for the costs of the security scramble, estimated to be more than $500,000. Two employees of Interference Inc., the New York marketing agency hired by Turner to implement the campaign, were arraigned on criminal charges Thursday. Appearing before reporters the two dodged questions, saying they wished to address the issue of long hair in the 1970s. (ABC News later reported that one of the men, Peter Berdovsky, had sent an email message to a colleague before his arrest saying that he had received a message from his boss at the ad agency "asking that I pretty please keep everything on the dl [down low]," i.e. quiet. In an interview with today's Wall Street Journal, Kelly O'Keefe, director of executive education at the Virginia Commonwealth University Adcenter, said, "This has to rank as the most significant blunder in the world of guerrilla advertising. ... This is an irrational act. It is really guerrilla marketing gone awry and it is inexcusable."

Shock and awe, SHOCK AND AWE.

How stupid are Americans?

Look dont take me wrong, I'm not saying that the advertising campaign was stupid. But are Americans so stupid that they have to be protected from something as innocent as these little glowing signs?
http://www.austinswim.org/guerilla.html

If you want more details about what happened check out Aqua Teen Central and the sites the article links to. The Fox News one is funny.

Fox News wrote:Arrest Made After 'Suspicious Packages' Paralyzed Boston as Part of Cartoon Network Marketing Campaign

And The NBC's article is well a whole lot more sane.

NBC wrote:Many young Bostonians think city overreacted

And Zebro's coverage is well just perfect
Zebro on Boston's Aqua Teen Bomb Scare.



Umm and isn't there some legal obligation tat would force a news company (Fox News) to at least every now and then to release some actual 'News'? I mean they do actually have the word 'News' in their name and all.


Long live the Mooninites!!! All shall bow before them.

Of the 9 cities where the Mooninites campaign was conducted , apparently only Boston was the one which "threw a fit" .

It's amazing to see how much people are willing to bid for one of these on ebay.
The fact that Boston was the city overreacting isn't that surprising when you consider they used to hunt witches there.

Psike81 wrote:Of the 9 cities where the Mooninites campaign was conducted , apparently only Boston was the one which "threw a fit" .

Remember this was after over a week of them being up!


And just imagine if they played mooninite sound bites every now and then

I want campaigns like this here. And the overreaction. Nothing produces as much luls from me as watching mindless chaos unfold from the comfort of my own home.

How about AJAS LED Throwies all over Adelaide

Let the chaos commence

I prefer the idea of people being chased by robotic Osakas with kitchen knives, meself.

Perhaps AVCON could try that as a promo idea ... of course they'll have to be either daring or stupid to try it .