MY NAME IS...
Feb. 5th, 2007 01:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ltmurnauOh, for Ah Pook's sweet sake:
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$2 million US settlement in Boston TV ad bomb hoax
Last Updated: Monday, February 5, 2007 | 1:07 PM ET
CBC Arts
Turner Broadcasting Systems and ad firm Interference Inc. have agreed to pay $2 million US in the wake of an ad campaign that caused a widespread bomb scare across Boston last week.
The two companies agreed to pay several state and local agencies to resolve any potential civil or criminal claims against them, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said Monday.
Electronic devices placed in Boston and nearby communities were an ad for Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The devices were feared to be bombs and parts of the city were shut down. Public areas in Boston were evacuated and bomb squads responded last Wednesday after three dozen blinking electronic signs were found in subway stations, on bridges and in other public places.
Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were studying the devices before authorities declared they were harmless.
The devices, featuring a boxy cartoon character giving an obscene hand gesture, were part of a publicity campaign for Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
They were distributed in nine other big U.S. cities in recent weeks, without causing the same consternation.
As part of the settlement, $1 million US will be used to reimburse the agencies and $1 million US will be used to fund homeland security and other programs.
"Last week's events caused a major disruption in the greater Boston area on many levels — crippling public transportation, causing serious traffic problems, negatively affecting local businesses and perhaps most significantly, costing Boston and surrounding communities thousands of dollars," Coakley said.
Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting, the division of Time Warner Inc. that owns the Cartoon Network, and Interference Inc., the New York ad firm that conceived the campaign, have agreed to make a public apology.
Turner issued an early mea culpa Friday in full-page ads that appeared in Boston newspapers.
However, Coakley criticized the broadcaster for taking five hours to notify police that the devices were part of an ad campaign.
In an effort to ward off lawsuits, Interference issued a statement over the weekend saying it contacted Turner and authorities as soon as it heard of the chaos caused by the devices.
Two men who were hired by Interference to hang the signs around the city, Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, have been charged with placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.
The men pleaded not guilty to the charges. Coakley said prosecutors were in discussions with the men's lawyers to resolve the charges before a trial.
With files from the Associated Press
***
I don't friggin' believe this.
"planting a hoax device" - a hoax of what? They looked like, acted like, and pretty much were Lite-Brite boards that blinked. Somehow it doesn't make sense to build a bomb that advertises its presence by blinking brightly. Boston's pants-wetting display over its inability to tell an advertising one-liner from an IED should be its own damn financial responsibility.
I was listening with half an ear last night to the TV news - one of the top stories was about two Canadians who were wounded by stray gunfire from a drive-by shooting in Acapulco, Mexico. What made my pricks ear up was the statement of the victim's families that the Canadian government should forbid people to travel to Mexico until, um, some time in the future because they might get hurt.
People, people, people....
***
$2 million US settlement in Boston TV ad bomb hoax
Last Updated: Monday, February 5, 2007 | 1:07 PM ET
CBC Arts
Turner Broadcasting Systems and ad firm Interference Inc. have agreed to pay $2 million US in the wake of an ad campaign that caused a widespread bomb scare across Boston last week.
The two companies agreed to pay several state and local agencies to resolve any potential civil or criminal claims against them, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said Monday.
Electronic devices placed in Boston and nearby communities were an ad for Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The devices were feared to be bombs and parts of the city were shut down. Public areas in Boston were evacuated and bomb squads responded last Wednesday after three dozen blinking electronic signs were found in subway stations, on bridges and in other public places.
Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were studying the devices before authorities declared they were harmless.
The devices, featuring a boxy cartoon character giving an obscene hand gesture, were part of a publicity campaign for Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
They were distributed in nine other big U.S. cities in recent weeks, without causing the same consternation.
As part of the settlement, $1 million US will be used to reimburse the agencies and $1 million US will be used to fund homeland security and other programs.
"Last week's events caused a major disruption in the greater Boston area on many levels — crippling public transportation, causing serious traffic problems, negatively affecting local businesses and perhaps most significantly, costing Boston and surrounding communities thousands of dollars," Coakley said.
Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting, the division of Time Warner Inc. that owns the Cartoon Network, and Interference Inc., the New York ad firm that conceived the campaign, have agreed to make a public apology.
Turner issued an early mea culpa Friday in full-page ads that appeared in Boston newspapers.
However, Coakley criticized the broadcaster for taking five hours to notify police that the devices were part of an ad campaign.
In an effort to ward off lawsuits, Interference issued a statement over the weekend saying it contacted Turner and authorities as soon as it heard of the chaos caused by the devices.
Two men who were hired by Interference to hang the signs around the city, Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, have been charged with placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.
The men pleaded not guilty to the charges. Coakley said prosecutors were in discussions with the men's lawyers to resolve the charges before a trial.
With files from the Associated Press
***
I don't friggin' believe this.
"planting a hoax device" - a hoax of what? They looked like, acted like, and pretty much were Lite-Brite boards that blinked. Somehow it doesn't make sense to build a bomb that advertises its presence by blinking brightly. Boston's pants-wetting display over its inability to tell an advertising one-liner from an IED should be its own damn financial responsibility.
I was listening with half an ear last night to the TV news - one of the top stories was about two Canadians who were wounded by stray gunfire from a drive-by shooting in Acapulco, Mexico. What made my pricks ear up was the statement of the victim's families that the Canadian government should forbid people to travel to Mexico until, um, some time in the future because they might get hurt.
People, people, people....
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-05 11:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-06 12:21 am (UTC)Again, what did they do in the other nine cities? Nothing, they just took a few of them down when they got annoying.
Sheesh. Da Guvmint won't do everything for you, folks. Snap out of it.