Gizmodo
Gadgets practically turned the entire city of Boston upside down yesterday. Fourteen of these horrifying and obviously dangerous devices were found throughout the city, and it turns out they were light boards depicting a "Mooninite," an outer space delinquent who shows up on the Adult Swim show Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
As Err the Mooninite flipped the middle finger in an obviously menacing way at passersby, paranoid citizens figured that this was some kind of bomb, and triggered a gigantic fraidy-cat response of police, security officials and politicians. WTF?
The crude moon man devices were all part of a marketing campaign instigated by the Adult Swim network, part of Turner Broadcasting, which apologized for the incident. Looks like the promotion worked.
Even though the devices were distributed in 10 different cities, Boston was the only one that responded with such fearful enthusiasm. Boston officials, on the lookout for terrorist threats, were obviously not familiar with the television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
As they communicated among themselves, they quickly determined there were numerous light boards of identical design distributed throughout the city. "It had a very sinister appearance," Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley told reporters. "It had a battery behind it, and wires."
The light boards were placed in their public locations by Peter Berdovsky, a freelance video artist, and Sean Stevens, both employed by Turner Broadcasting for the stunt. Now the two are in jail, charged with disorderly conduct, and also for "placing a hoax device in a way that results in panic."
It's hard to believe that a harmless device such as this would cause a reaction similar to that of the apes in 2001: A Space Odyssey—creeping up to the monolith, nearly paralyzed with fear, touching it and jumping back in horror. Be afraid. Be very afraid. That's life in the 00s.
Comments
Sounds like they've fallen victim to their own fear mongering.
The Philadelphia newscasts were talking about it too.
Marketing, shmarketing.
If I was still the scrounging hardware hacker I used to be I'd be trying to find 'em for al the free LEDS!
-but that's me.
If I found one I'd have that sucker on eBay while the story's hot.
Charlie you're breaking my heart ... his name isn't "Mooninite", he is a "Mooninite." His name is Err, and together with his pal Ignignokt, he runs around breaking laws and pissing people off on Earth, all the while telling everyone how superior his moon is.
I think everyone would like to have found them...heck it would probably be a scanger hunt.
They were talking about it on the radio this morning.
The people of Boston need to get their heads out of their asses and get with pop culture. And law enforcement needs to see real threats.
The best part is that they were up for weeks before anyone noticed... WTF?
No press is bad press - even when one someone might go to jail.
I guess I can understand some of the alarm - these things were seen in daylight, unlit. They could look suspicious.
Why? Just cause he can jump higher on the moon's lesser gravity?
Eh, that show lost its humor and "edge" years ago.
2 weeks in like 10 other cities before a complaint, at least BigBrother is consistent in its threat response efforts! I would be so embarassed to be one of these fear mongering aZZclowns in Boston.
A. Boston has a somewhat spotty record on terror and public order.
B. The ebay auction is outta control: 3000+ at posting.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mooninites-Ignignokt-LED-Advertising-B...
Doesn't anyone watch cartoons anymore? They need to get over themselves and sit down to watch some cartoons.
This illustrates perfectly the problem with the whole "Post 9/11 world" thinking. I can understand some level of initial suspicion but it should have been evident after retrieving one of these things that it was nothing to worry about.
I was watching a thread about this on the SA forums when the news reports first hit the air. That thread took all of 10 minutes and one page to identify the joke and find articles about the 10 other cities that this stunt was carried out in. It's shameful that it took safety officials many hours and thousands, maybe even millions of wasted dollars to realise what a bunch of internet nerds worked out in 10 minutes.
Instead of being sensible, scaremongering officials turned a harmless joke into an absolute circus. I remember when something like this might get a laugh and appear the next day in the local paper!
I applaud those folks who risk their lives to protect us from dangerous threats but we're getting completely paranoid. I hope this helps people realise that the irrational "Post 911" fearmongering has gone too far.
So Charlie, in your mine placing a black LED board with batteries and wires that during the day isn't lit on Bridges and highly traveled roadways isn't something that may cause a stir.
Maybe in Boston we watch too much Jack Bauer and not enough Adult swim.
If something like this "results in panic," the terrorist have us exactly where they want us. Living in fear.
This is a great example of how f-ed in the head Boston is.
Panic!!! Panic!!!!
Losers.
how could they be charged for placing a "hoax device"?? these devices looked like led light boards........and coincidently they were. wheres the hoax?
2 points:
1. no one care enough about boston to blow it up.
2. if anything with a battery and wires in it makes it sinister and scary, i think we should all take it upon ourselves to protect each other from those tricky terrorists and take down all the cross walk signs, traffic lights, parking meters, light bollards, LED billboards, tvs, the sun, and anything else in public that has lights on it and is scary.
Being from Boston and having seen the whole thing in news, the gadgets were actually located behind and under important infrastructures with dim lighting. Also, there was gray ducktape surrounding the batteries with the wires sticking out. If you were a police officer seeing this, wouldn't it cause you alarm as well? Not every police officer watches "Aqua Teen Hunger Force..."
Out here in Montana some redneck would've just used them for target practice.
I live in Boston
it was definitly out of control yesterday...i had a teacher cancel one of my classes because he was afraid to leave the house...
why arent more people furious with the fact that the two people who are IN JAIL and going to take the blame for all of this were just artists who got paid to put the devices up
The city of boston needs to go after Turner Entertainment not these poor guys...
why the hell did i stay at home all day yesterday?? :'(
You are absolutely right!i could have picked up one,and sold it on ebay...dammit...
oh, and
Two ends of the spectrum:
-People who when they see something suspicious make authorities aware of it.
-People who are oblivious to everything around them.
I'll side with the cautious people.
And when you say the people in Boston overreacted, are losers, etc.. It was the federal authorities that directed the local authorities to shut down traffic as a precaution even though they knew after "neutralizing" the first billboard they found that the rest were harmless. They had to make sure. That is their job.
the city of boston needs to lighten up, next they'll be complaining about those suspicious green, yellow and red lights at intersections.....
This was Err's last big hurrah, scare the good people of Boston into filling their pants with brown bricks.
Felony charges are a bit steep, I think."It had batteries... and wires..." was this comment taken just before he got on the short bus?
"Scaring an entire region, tying up the T and major roadways, and forcing first responders to spend 12 hours chasing down trinkets instead of terrorists is marketing run amok..." so they are constantly chasing down terrorists in Boston?
This wasn't even a hoax or prank... it was a marketing campaign. Why aren't they arresting the terrorist Chuck Norris for chasing two men down in a Mountain Dew commercial? They looked pretty panicked to me.
Oh man, they guy who has one on Ebay has it up there for 7 days! My guess is he's going to get a call from Turner telling him that he stole their property. He should have left it at 3 days and unloaded it before anyone says anything.
Why are the news channels blurring the hand or the whole thing? Seems stupid to me.
though i like the cops very american reaction, if you dont understand something, blow it up
Stayed tuned for next week, I will be making my Lite-Brite into the shape of Space Ghost and leaving it in the Boston Airport.
Why should the city of Boston go after anyone? This was grafitti with LEDs. Get used to it, home of MIT and Harvard. If law enforcement is incapable of differentiating threats and toys, then guess what--come a *real* emergency, you'll be screwed. Maybe the city can hire a couple braniacs that are capable of identifying a simple light with batteries and might be handy with a google search.
Oh, that is SO Ignignokt.
"Da Moon Rulz," indeed, my friend, da moon rulz.
But seriously, getting arrested? These looked like dangerous packages? What, with the glow-in-the-dark middle finger?
As Ignignokt would say, "Our liability coverage is zero. Our balls, however, are enormous."
I admit, I'm a fan of the early ATHF, but I'm a Venture man now (well, and the Birdman ... and the Dingo's not bad either).
My morning commute was messed up because of this yesterday, but no one in the office was really too concerned about it. Overall, I'm really pissed that Turner did this, but I'm happy that Boston Police reacted the way they did.
KRONK:
The problem is that a bomb can look like anything, and circuit boards coming out of a bag may be a sign of one. I would much rather be safe and be 20 minutes late to work than end up having another 9/11 in Boston. There is a fine line between paranoia and exerting caution, and I think Boston cops acted on the right side of that line. If these in fact had been bombs, and if Police had just waved them off as hoaxes, then things would be a lot worse. Creating an analogy to traffic lights is ignorant.
Finally, Turner deserves to get sued for this, it was irresponsible behavior. I also think that the artists should be held responsible as well. If a large company hires you to break the law, you're still breaking the law. They were stupid to have put these under bridges.
Two ends of the spectrum:
-People who when they see something suspicious make authorities aware of it.
-People who are oblivious to everything around them.
I'll side with the cautious people.
I don't think its the people who spotted the devices who are in question. Its the authorities who over-reacted to these devices. How incompetent are these first responders that they couldn't look at a device that simple and figure out that its not threatening? So now everyone is being scolded, and the old "this has no place in a post-9/11 world" line is being trotted out -- 'cos, you know, that changed everything -- and the net result is: there is more terrorism being perpetrated by these idiot "authorities" than those scary foreigners could have ever hoped to carry out.
Rant over. I'm just so sick of this idiocy.
Musykchyk: " The city of boston needs to go after Turner Entertainment not these poor guys..."
If a woman on the street get knocked down because she was distracted by an advertisement is it the advertisers fault? Not in my opinion. People are responsible for their own reactions to it.
adriang: "I would much rather be safe and be 20 minutes late to work than end up having another 9/11 in Boston"
But are we going to jump every time we see a loose wire? and would any terrorist in his right mind really put flashing led's on his bombs in the first place. looks like we'll end up destroying ourselves from sheer paranoia before the terrorists ever get started
I guess the City of Boston will be seeking a wad more cash in the next round of Anti-terror funding, now that they've had a "real" terror alert.
The city of boston needs to go after Turner Entertainment not these poor guys...
But go after them for doing what? Making them look like panicked fools?
The two guys were charged with "placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct." Clearly, they didn't intend to fool anyone into thinking these were IEDs, so I fail to see how a "hoax device" angle works. As for disturbing the peace, I think the government did a far better job of that than anyone working for Turner Broadcasting.
@FlashSandbox
The hand is being blurred because it looks like Err is displaying an obscene gesture.
@KRONK370 says:
"though i like the cops very american reaction, if you dont understand something, blow it up"
you forgot the second-half of the statement "..before it blows you up."
If Turner Inc., Peter Berdovsky, or Sean Stevens can produce their outdoor advertising permit (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/ciscig/k/k1k44.htm#k35), then we'll call off the lawyers. If not, asbestos-underwear won't save them.
The water-cannon was so cool.
KRONK: It's not every loose wire. It's the electronic devices left alone under bridges. This is the first time this has happened in Boston on this scale.. at least since I can remember. You can't blow this out of proportion and say it'll become a daily occurrence, because it's not. The reason authorities reacted the way they did is because it is in fact very rare.
That is exactly why Turner and the 2 artists should both be held liable. This is essentially the equivalent of yelling "fire" in a full building and then saying it was just a marketing ploy.
I go to school in Worcester and when I saw this "breaking news" I just laughed. Although I do understand that we have to be wary of "suspicious" batteries and wires (it's a gddamn litebrite people!), I think the media hyped this situation completely out of control.
That being said, those two shouldn't have been arrested and Turner should have to pay the cost to the city for the deployment of law enforcement. I do think Turner should have notified at least the city that the ads were gonna be put up, but how were they supposed to know this would happen? It amused me that these things have been up for weeks and only just now had the media flipping out.
The one thing that bothers me is that even after the boards were acknowledged by Turner as guerrilla advertising...this was still the top news story for hours. I was watching it on tv and there was coverage of this, then..."in other news an ACTUAL terrorist plot was thwarted in London."
"oh, and I guess some lady was found burned to death in the woods, BUT SUSPICIOUS LITEBRITES!!!"
this whole thing is ridiculous
This season's ATHF are funnier than they have ever been. Fuck Birdman, Venture and Frisky Dunghole. Da Moon Rulz #1. P.S. - The people in Boston didn't see them lit up at night, they saw a box with wires stuck to a bridge....I'd call too.
First, people here don't need to hate on Boston; Since 9/11 the city has, rightfully considering the planes used in the attacks originated there, taken all remotely suspicious items as potential terrorist threats. The city probably overreacted, but it was doing its job (and obeying the feds, by the sound of things).
Second, Turner Broadcasting probably had NOTHING to do with the items in question beyond owning the show they were advertising. Instead, the advertising agency should be held responsible for its probably misdirected campaign.
Third, it's shameful that the cops in Boston didn't look around for other reports of these things in other cities because I've known of their existence for over a month (after seeing a post on Make). Seriously, I live in a small town in the midwest -- there's no reason the authorities couldn't have checked this out.
Finally, it's pathetic that something out-of-the-ordinary has to be assumed to be dangerous. Way to go U.S.A!
P.S. Blowing up suspicious things is actually more of a British response than an American one -- they've been blowing up weird stuff left around in public places since the early 80s or even before due to terrorism associated with the IRA... Americans shoot random things, sure, but we only blow up medical facilities and abandoned rail cars in other countries.
I'm from Boston, and I'm embarrassed. The people that stahted freakin' out about this whole thing are the ones to blame. I think that the News stations here were the ones to say that they were "suspicious packages". They needed something to report on. It looks like a friggin' LiteBrite for cryin' out loud!
Sure, maybe the response to this all was a bit much. But you have to consider where these were placed, on overpasses, bridges and public spaces. Good spots if you are looking at it from an advertising standpoint but not a good place if you are thinking about public safety. To their defense, after finding the first one at 8am, they announced that it wasn't a bomb or explosive device. One would hope that all public safety officials, in any city, would exercise caution with an unknown electronic device crudely plastered on the side of a bridge with magnets, especially if they're not the type to stay up late watching cartoons. Just because something appears innocent, doesn't mean that it is...
Uh, do you think the network didn't approve materials created/designed by an agency? Of course they did. As someone who's worked on both sides of that equation, I can tell you the agency responsible for designing/creating/distributing these items had the absolute approval/go-ahead from the network.
I don't think I have to comment on the disconnect between those two statements.
@geosteve
"Finally, it's pathetic that something out-of-the-ordinary has to be assumed to be dangerous. Way to go U.S.A!"
Maybe I'm splitting the follicle here, but there's "an unclaimed bag at the airport" and there's:
A device
- with visible wiring
- leading to a pack of unknown content
- with an unfamiliar character on the front
- displaying an obscene gesture
- no other visible corporate logos
- posted
- at major bridges
- at major roadways
- at a hospital
..Once you put all of these pieces together, it makes you wonder if they were really trying for the "bomb/terror angle".