February 1, 2007
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Mooninites Don't Scare NYC
Breathe easy, New York City - the NYPD has removed the LED pieces with Aqua Teen Hunger Force's mooninite Ignignokt from locations. It's unclear where they were, but WNBC reported that one was at 54th Street and 9th Avenue. And don't worry, folks, the Boston police have arrested Peter Berdovsky for planting the LED devices. Berdovsky's website, Zebbler.com, shows the locations of 20 devices (or, as the Massachusetts authorities are calling them, "hoax devices").
Looking at the photos, you wonder how this looked suspicious to Boston police, because it looks like a light installation. Maybe the daylight and the one-fingered salute seemed threatening. Wait, the middle finger F.U. was scary to the media! At this point, the guerrilla marketing company behind the stunt, Interference Inc., says its CEO is traveling, so no comment, and its website seems down.
As for what probably spooked authorities, we guess it's the fact that some of these gimmicks were placed under bridges. Check out this video to see an installation:
This is no laughing matter to Boston authorities, though. Mayor Thomas Menino said in a press conference, "It is outrageous, in a post-9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme." And he wants the FCC to pull Cartoon Network owner Turner Broadcasting's license. DA Daniel Conley of Boston's Suffolk County said, “The community was disrupted, transit routes were paralyzed, residents were stranded, and relatives across the nation were in fear for loved ones here in the city of Boston. Everyone can play a part by holding Turner Broadcasting to account for today’s event. Viewers, advertisers and licenseholders can and should make clear to them that this sort of behavior is reckless and illegal.” Reckless and illegal? Kind of like Boston's Big Dig?
What do you think of this incident? Is this more reason for the city to crack down on guerrilla street advertising? And should we feel comforted or disturbed that the devices left in NYC went pretty much unnoticed?
Some enterprising soul (aren't they all) is selling one on eBay. But if you don't want to shell out that kind of money, make a mooninite out of Lite Brite! Boing Boing pointed out that someone has made "Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the bomb" T-shirts. And you know tonight's ATHF ratings will be gangbusters! We're not sure how well the upcoming movie will do - it might be too much press, a la Snakes on a Plane, too soon.
Photograph of the actual ATHF LED by Todd Vanderlin/AP who actually posted this picture on Flickr 2 weeks ago
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I don't understand how a fictitional character shooting the bird caused the entire city of boston distress. Whoever decided that this advertising campagin was "threatening" needs to be fired.
I hear you Ben, but Boston keeps reelecting that retard Mayor Menino.
It kinda looks like that 'lightbright' game they used to sell when I was a kid. How the hell does that look threatening?
"And should we feel comforted or disturbed that the devices left in NYC were pretty much unnoticed?"
Like who cares?
And to tell you the truth, if terrorists did the same thing, they wouldn’t attract so much attention to the devices with lit up lightbrites.
Boston sux big time. Lame city, lame people and worst of all LAME ASS MORONS in charge... Keep those cartoons off the street while hosting al-qaeda terrorists Boston, we love ya!
If the boards had instead the picture of Charlie Brown would they also have shutdown Boston in fear? Turner should lauch a cartoon character discrimination suit against the city blockheads.
Is it not very often we see incompetence showcased so perfectly than when we watch Boston authorities dig their own grave with each press release concerning these signs. How totally sad :( Keep running your mouth Mayor Menino, we are listening...
Sorry guys,
i disagree. "Guerrilla Marketing"(?) of this sort has become an increasing problem. I remember when IBM chalked up NYC sidewalks for a promo. Did this firm actually have any intention of removing the items? IBM clearly didn't. Or were they going to pass the buck to the taxpayer?
Boston obviously overreacted, but that doesn't change the fact that these people are no more than pirates, using Public Space as though it were advertising space for which they had paid.
i agree, it does remind me of the old LiteBrite. not sure how this could have been mistaken for terror, and not "graffitti" or at worst a prank.
Wow it hurts when some kid says "Boston sux. Lame city, lame people and worst of all LAME ASS MORONS" I am guessing the poster is a valley girl with poor grammar skills. Yes our mayor sucks and the reaction here was extreme but how this indicts a whole city as "lame" is beyond me. Just for arguments sake where are you from "Bostonsux" and do you know that "sux" is not a word? Just wondering if your hometown has schools like Harvard and MIT, cause eductaion "sux" and is "lame" right?
how much 'eductaion' have you had?
go sam go!
I can kind of see where Boston is coming from with this. We can look at these installations and think they are cool, but we also have to realize that they could mask something a little more dangerous.
I don't deny that these are some really cool pieces and I wish I had gotten a chance to see them when they were around New York, but don't put up random unexplained electronic devices around cities when we have buses and subways being bombed in world capitals. Be smart and inform the authorities or something. I doubt it will diminish the cool factor of your campaign.
And P.S. I lived in Boston for six years and it does kinda suck. We have world class schools in New York as well as 24 hour public transportation and bars and delis that stay open past 2 a.m. We aren't the capital of the world for nothing.
The pix I saw looked like it had four D batteries with wires sticking out. Maybe someone thought it Unabomber-ish.
Uh, Dave, Harvard and MIT are in Cambridge not Boston.
All I know is: I WANT ONE. PLEEEESE?!?!?
You know whats interesting is that in the majority of the locations that these were placed, there is no other street art/grafitti... I'm not sure of the locations of the NYC or other city installations, but thought it was interesting. Also, do we know how long they were up and in place before all the hub bub? I think they look much more inoccuous during at night.
These things are supposedly in Austin as well, but I haven't seen any.
IMO, Boston authorities went Waaaaay overboard on this one. Yes. it's a nuisance, but calling in the Bomb Squad??
There is clearly two issues (if not more): (1) Boston's over reaction and (2) guerilla marketing. They really aren't related.
The whole argument that they could have been masking something dangerous is a silly one, because ANYTHING can be used to mask something dangerous... and a more effective explosive would be one that was hidden. Unless the intent was to scare. Which this wasn't.
If I forgot my backpack on the subway and someone freak out and it causes a panic, I am I now guilty? I've I hekp plan a shopping cart race with 175 carts anf the police thing we MIGHT be hiding bombs in the carts, am I guilty.
This sort of attitude would kill all non-sanctioned public art/performance. Kill it.
Guerilla marketing is a serparate issue, except that we are again trying to draw a line using instead of form. Clearly there has to be limits, but it still seems to me the only thing anyone is guilty of in this case is littering (and you know fans would have collected them if the police hadn't taken them down).
With the amount of media coverage that these devices have attracted... the 2 marketers should be given medals rather than jail-time!
Your average middle-aged home-maker might consider this terrorism, but they would also never watch Adult Swim; their actual target audience of teens & young adults is going to laugh this off.
You'd think after finding the first one and taking out the batteries, that you'd know it was fake and you could call off the swat team. Who ever made the decision to make this into a big deal is THE biggest idiot in the US.
no, dave, boston actually is probably the one city on the east coast that is more lame than washington d.c.
the most amusing part of this, of course, is that the mayor seems to think turner inc did this On Purpose to shut down the city. you know, because its a -totally- logical conclusion to think that light boards of cartoon characters = supreme tango threat. although i do think its weird that with all the exposure nobody recognized the character.
Doesn't the technique remind you of the work done by the Graffiti Research Lab? It seems like the marketing group at Cartoon Network did some cool-hunting and wanted to be on the cutting edge. Another case of a artistic form of expression being used to market some crap-o-la, this time with dangerous overtones.
google: "night writer" to see a video of the artists who pioneered this techique
Did no bomb-squad member see the lights and batteries and think, "Hey maybe we should flip it over and check for a brand name?" I used to consider Boston the only northeast city I'd live in, but not after the Big Dig mess and this fiasco. You're ridiculous Boston, ridiculous.
So we ridicule you. Sorry.
It's also important to remember they have moon rays and actively hate our way of life. If that is not terror, I don't know what is.
This is a misunderstanding, not a bomb hoax. Why should that guy be arrested for assembling and affixing them? Sounds like Boston police are just looking for a scapegoat to punish for making them look foolish.
I think they might be after attention: "look at us! the terrorists think we're important too!" Most likely the mayor, etc. realized early on they overreacted and couldn't gracefully get out of the situation. It's easier to distract from their jackassery by just making a stink.
I wonder if they would have reacted the same way if the promos had taken the form of giant balls of meat?
What's interesting to me is that Menino seems to be diverting public attention from the fact that it was regular people, not law enforcement, that seem to have found all these things. More than 'shut down the city,' it looks like Turner pointed out that Boston is still completely clueless when it comes to guarding themselves. I mean, these were a couple of guys pulling a marketing prank - imagine if there were more of them and they actually intended to do harm? Who should be getting publicly censured? Not Turner. Time to take a long look in the mirror...
I can see where the boston public is coming from if you've never seen ATHF. First of all, they placed those ads in very sensitive areas like bridges and tunnels and places where they looked like they didn't belong. It's one thing to place it on an billboard that is sanctioned but if you see something unfamiliar that looks like c4 plastic explosive from the side placed all willy nilly on a strut or grommet of a bridge than you'd get scared too. those things are small and don't look like moonites from hundreds of feet away. they look like bombs.
Why should that guy be arrested for assembling and affixing them? Sounds like Boston police are just looking for a scapegoat to punish for making them look foolish.
Hey, lookie there, you answered your own question.
At some point, I'd love to see them arrest someone at Fox or CNN for inciting a panic before they have all the facts.
I have seen a picture of the hipster artist, and he should definitely be arrested. I sure hope he gets jail time, and Turner fined for the cost. Boston overracted, but it's better than no reaction at all from NYC. Maybe Bloomie is a ATHF fan so it was a non-issue in NYC?
Usually you only need to watch a couple of minutes of a Red Sox game to figure this out, but this just confirms it... for a city with so many top school, Beantown is truly the dumb fuck capital of the world.
Litebrites in the streets! Horrors! Call the police! Why do I think that if these installations all said "Go Sox!" there would have been a slightly calmer reaction.
Potential terrorists take note: if you want to set up bombs in Boston, make sure they all say "Yanks suck" on them and everyone will leave them alone.
This is exactly why Boston remains a J.V. city.
but it's better than no reaction at all from NYC.
Or maybe people in NYC knew they were fugging Lite-Brites?
ok, so boston looks stupid for overreacting, who cares? does that mean the whole city 'sux' and everyone in it? and why has this become a boston vs nyc thing to some of you? nyc is a city of 10 million, boston 600,000, they're totally different, and both great in their own ways.
does that mean the whole city 'sux' and everyone in it?
Yes, because you people keep electing a mayor who can't speak.
It's one thing to place it on an billboard that is sanctioned
Just because someone has "sanctioned" a billboard, scaffolding, or public transportation space for advertising I didn't ask to see doesn't make it "acceptable." Besides, think of what one could hide in/behind a "sanctioned" billboard.
Guys - grow up and quit being so insecure. New York and Boston both rock - for different reasons. I understand when this kind of faux rivalry comes up in the whole Yankees vs. Red Sox debate, but even then anyone with intelligence should realize it's still a JOKE. Grow up and please give up on the whole "My dick is bigger than yours" game.
This was blown way out of proportion. What hick called this into the police as a bomb? Did they really think the Taliban were going to carry out their "Holy War" with a lite brite ad of a cartoon character? I doubt they would want to be that obvious. I looked and I couldn't find the moonite fron Aqua Teen Hunger Force anywhere in the Qur'an.
This whole thing is retarded! Just because a government agency freaked out and over reacted doesn't make the ads a threat.
Like the previous guy said, if I left my back pack somewhere and it caused a bomb scare, would I be guilty?
Would they be guilty had the cops not overreacted?
And if I hear another "in this post-9/11 world", I am going to throw my TV across the room. 9/11 doesn't justify people not using their heads!
can we stop for a second and laugh at all the "Artists" who are sticking up for this advertising agency?
i suppose it's cool because it's for Acqua Teen though, right?
and i'd take menino over bloomberg any day.
What is it with all these po-dunk places thinking that they are in the terrorist's crosshairs? People in Boston must watch far too much Fox News.
Someone should let Mayor Menino know that no one gives a shit about Boston, that they should relax a little, and give some of their counter terrorism funding back to the places that actually need it.
As for imprisoning the person responsible for this act...yeah, sure, that makes a lot of sense. About as much as pulling Turner corporations broadcasting license. I think Marion Barry isn't the only mayor who's smoked crack while in office.
Lame, lame, lame!
The people in charge need to lay off the paranoia pills and start staying up late.
OK, it's one thing -- an illegal thing, yes -- to do this sort of advertising, but to claim the removal of said ads in the name of national security and that goddamn awful phrase "a post-9/11 world" is frightening and outrageous.
So I hope this sparks a backlash of some sort, and all sorts of artists and "fringe" companies and creations start doing the same thing. Cos me? I wouldn't care (well, of course I would) if I fell off the sidewalk or dented my car if I saw one of these things while out and about. Awesome idea, great execution.
"I have seen a picture of the hipster artist, and he should definitely be arrested. I sure hope he gets jail time, and Turner fined for the cost. Boston overracted, but it's better than no reaction at all from NYC. Maybe Bloomie is a ATHF fan so it was a non-issue in NYC?"
^^^ Dude is an idiot.
Get this stuff out of my face. Some mega-paranoid mental midget spots a brite light and thinks it's a bomb and now someone should be punished? Yeah, morons who try to whip up hysteria over nothing should be punished.
Guys, I have news for you. Terrorists will not illuminate their explosives. That's the most retarded concept I've ever heard of in my life.
Next someone will make an etcha-sketch ad of scooby doo and some crazy fool will think it's laced with a neurotoxin.
It's awesome. This conclusively proves that the terrorists have defeated Boston. Wake up, you cowards.
-JX
"can we stop for a second and laugh at all the "Artists" who are sticking up for this advertising agency?"
well, they did what they were supposed to do. perhaps a little too well, maybe?
watching the boston pd try to scramble out of this mess has been very, very funny.
"This is exactly why Boston remains a J.V. city." -douche bag
I can't wait to be a senior, wear a letter on my jacket, and date the prom queen. -Boston
I love living in Boston, I love visiting nyc (my in-laws' home). I guess I'm not surprised that people decide on what they think about a city by it's mayor and construction projects? I'm just glad I don't factor that crap into my life. Granted, boston does need some more late night options, but it's a small city and is very easy to live in.
I just hope MF Doom gets some publicity out of this.
It's pretty much damned if you do, damned if you don't for the Boston police. At least they have had a good testing of their anti-terrorism squads. At least that's something.
As to the hoax itself... what were they thinking? Homeland Security is not going to be happy! Is there as Advertising Section at Gitmo?
Its a little know fact that if you focus all the light from 20 light brights thru a xenon gas chamber and then accelerate all the electron to 0.5 the speed of light, you could cause a worm-hole to open up that could explode and destroy most of downtown Boston...
Cliff.
Yay! Let's all live in constant fear! And let's say things like this could have been an act of freedom hating terrorists, and oh yeah, in the meantime, the FCC should pull a television station's license for scaring us!
Unbelievable.
Yes, it was a dumb advertising campaign, but c'mon, the reaction from the City of Boston is ridiculous. Don't they have more important things to worry about?
They were boxes with wires hanging out, placed around the city... people did not know what they were. Does anyone really think that they saw the Mooninite and said OMG A TERRORIST LITE BRITE! They didn't know. Jeez. Give the bomb squad a damn break.
New Yorker who also love Boston is NOT a true New Yorker. Any reason to keep a lefty hipster/artist in jail is a good reason.
You guys know that the cartoon promotes this kind of behavior in kids >>> so you better make sure your kids don't watch cartoons >>>INSTEAD make them watch CBS, ABC, news maybe CNN, so they understand that all cartoons promote terrorism!
MAYBE THE TIME HAS COME TO START THE WAR ON CARTOONS!!!!!!
>>>>> no kid of mine will be watching these terroristic cartoons!
Give 'em a break? No way - lazy,lazy group think took over, they deserve derision.
Maybe Boston should be more like Fryloc, and learn to embrace the Mooninites?
These did not look like threatening "devices" to me, but then again, I don't suffer from the "Everyone is out to get me" syndrome. Apparently these were up in "Major Cities", and didn't "scare" anyone else. I am so glad we no longer live there.
If stupidity is painful, does this mean Boston is in agony?
Lazy? They obviously did not know they were fricking Lite Brites until they went to look at them. They got calls and they went. How is that lazy? People report boxes and backpacks that are sitting around subways or Grand Central. What is the damn problem?
What's the charge vandalism meets homeland security breach? that's quite a mash-up.
"Democratic Rep. Ed Markey, a Boston-area congressman, added, "It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt."
I haven't heard a call-to-arms challenge like this since Truman moved the country to war-time rationing in 42!
Of course this is the reaction from a city where you have people that drowned in molasses. This should be the concern not aqua teen hunger force. I think we should boycott Boston and claim it for the mental institution of America. It's a double winner.
I'm still reeling that people are so 1) stupid that they'd mistake a lite-brite for an explosive device, and 2) so cowed by fearmongering that they call the bomb squad over something like this. The mayor and police commissioner of Boston are, in my opinion, utter f-ing twits.
#41> Don't forget it was Boston's lax security at Logan that is partly to blame for 9/11.
ATHF- is so genius that my brain is broken from watching it too much.
Government is big and tough, you guys, and if they want to draw a line and show us who's boss, I say thank you sir may I have another. Our citizenry gets outta line every now and again and we need to be smacked back into submission like a red-headed stepchild or a woman or an animal.
However, Reps and Dems alike have been modeling how the "War of the Parts Against the Whole" can hold an entire political system for ransom. So tough. It seems that ordinary citizens have the same ability to frustrate one or more of our system's intricately organized parts such that the whole system halts. D'oh!
As I always say: WWCD? (What would Carl Do?)
Tell the Boston's Mayor what you think!
Contact Info
Boston City Hall, One City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA 02201
City Hall Operator: (617) 635-4000
Sorry I could find an email.
When litebrites are outlawed, only outlaws will have litebrites.
If this were Nike, McDonald's or Wal-Mart's advertising campaign, I cannot help but think that there would be a different tone to these responses.