This Heaven Gives Me Migraine

I read this article in the paper yesterday.

Terror-ble Publicity Blitz
Sparks Boston Flee Party
by
MICHAEL WHITE and DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

A bonehead publicity stunt virtually shut down Boston yesterday - and authorities blamed a Greenwich Village guerrilla marketing firm for the chaos.

Interference Marketing, an edgy company that touts its "unconventional methods," installed blinking magnetic devices depicting a cartoon character flashing its middle finger on highways and overpasses - and even in a hospital - across Beantown.

The campaign was designed to build buzz for the Cartoon Network's "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," which features talking junk food items. But the stunt bombed in Boston, spawning terror fears, snarling traffic and shutting down some subway service.

"It's a hoax - and it's not funny," said Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wasn't laughing either - and grimly promised jail time for those behind the devices.

Media giant Turner Broadcasting, which owns the Cartoon Network, apologized for the stunt.

"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company said. As soon as the company realized the problem, it said, law-enforcement officials were told of locations in 10 cities, including New York, where the dopey devices were placed.

An NYPD source said 41 of the devices were placed around the city, mostly in Brooklyn, and were removed last night. Police here had not received any calls of concern about the battery-powered devices.

No one returned calls from Interference, which specializes in plastering subway stations and sidewalks with temporary ads.

Interference CEO Sam Ewen, who lives in Brooklyn Heights, was said to be out of town.

Hundreds of cops and firefighters swarmed across highways and subways around Boston after jittery residents called to report the devices, causing massive delays for drivers and riders. A stretch of the picturesque Charles River that runs through the city was also shut down.

Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, Mass., and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, Mass., were each arrested last night on one felony charge of placing a hoax device and one charge of disorderly conduct, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said. In a news release announcing Stevens’ arrest, she said the men worked together to place the devices.

Both were held on $2,500 cash bond each after they pleaded not guilty.

"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a bizarro show with a cultish following that airs as part of the Adult Swim late-night block of programs on the Cartoon Network.

It features a talking milk shake, a box of French fries and a wad of hamburger. It also features characters called "mooninites," which are known for giving others the finger.

Adult Swim ran an apology to the city of Boston both on its website and during its Cartoon Network broadcast last night.

from NYDailyNews.com

When I read an article like this I feel the same as when someone says to me that they would “...rather drink a beer with George Bush.” I just don’t get it.

Is something being left out?

What I gather from this report…the only information I have on the subject…is that some publicity company trying to promote some cartoon show put electronic devices that showed an animated character giving the onlooker "the finger." These devices were placed all around the city of Boston in an attempt to catch the passerby’s attention. And when the unsuspecting public did notice these little cartoon images they reacted in the only logical and reasonable way they knew how: They panicked in abject terror, causing “snarling traffic and shutting down some subway service.”

Behold...the new face of terror.

Am I alone in thinking this is completely absurd?

I mean, if I am walking down the street, minding my own business, and I see bolted to the side of a building an electronic screen with a cartoon character making an obscene gesture towards my direction the first thing I am going to think of is not that it is a bomb. Judging by his detonation choice, I might conclude that it was planted by the only terrorist in the world who evidently graduated Pratt Institute. When did terrorist types start showing stylistic quirkiness and artistic flare?

How can we even remotely suggest we are free when the slightest turn off the beaten path is met with fear and loathing?

Now I know this sounds like just some stupid publicity stunt put into action simply to sell more soap but the reaction of the population raises serious questions.

The Mayor, “...grimly promised jail time for those behind the devices.” For what? Doing something that made people become unreasonably frightened? Jesus, I hope people don’t start being afraid of having sex and start demanding “jail time” for practitioners of such evil deeds.

Oh wait, they are...and they do.

I also like the “hundreds of cops and firefighters” swarming the highways and subways around Boston causing massive delays. I bet you at one or, most likely, many times during that “swarm” someone was commanded to “MOVE IT ASSHOLE” because he happened to be walking down the street in a ten block radius of where one of the devices was located.

And before you say, “the world has changed since 9/11” I say BULLOCKS! The world is just as dangerous as it ever was, it is our perception of it that has changed.

When I think of how thin the veneer of civility really is, I become depressed. You have to truly question the social evolution of a society where such attitudes are the norm. You also have to question the future of a society whose true foundation is hate and fear and not hope and love.

I gave at the office

Larry