Run for cover -- Cartoons invade Boston
Richard Fogal
Issue date: 2/6/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
On Jan. 31, the Mooninites invaded Boston. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, let me explain: Turner Broadcasting, which owns Cartoon Network, placed about 30 LED devices around the city of Boston to advertise the forthcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie. The devices featured most of the characters from the show, including two characters called "The Mooninites," named Ignignokt and Err, who resemble 1980s video game graphics.
The devices were shaped like computer motherboards and the LEDs were arranged in the shape of one of the characters. At night time, the LEDs lit up and blinked, displaying the characters. These devices were placed in highly visible locations, such as building walls, overpasses, train stations, etc. This sort of practice is called guerrilla marketing, and it has been successful elsewhere.
These LED boards looked innocuous to most people. However, some overreacted, gripped by fear of what were essentially blinking lights shaped like cartoon characters. Several calls were made to the police on Jan. 31 and lo and behold, a bomb scare began. Most of Boston shut down for several hours.
There is a line between vigilance and paranoia. It's important to keep your eyes open to possible "suspicious packages;" however, every object in a city, from trash cans to backpacks to trucks, is a potential bomb. All I'm asking is for people to use some common sense. If you truly spot something that strikes you as being odd (such as an unattended backpack on a train or bus), then please report it. But don't actively go out looking for suspicious packages, as it seems some people do, because everything you encounter on the street will fit that label.
This incident got me thinking: What if this were an art project? In New York and other big cities, slightly mysterious art projects similar in nature to this happen all the time. Should we now fear unconventional art or advertising because these media can potentially be used by Al Qaida to hide bombs?
Five years after Sept. 11, one must wonder whether this nation isn't becoming just a bit too paranoid when Lite-Brite boards are able to shut down New England's most populous city for the afternoon. As a friend at Northeastern University said to me the other day, "If we can't put up LED versions of Carl and Meatwad in public places, the terrorists win."
He's only half-joking.
The devices were shaped like computer motherboards and the LEDs were arranged in the shape of one of the characters. At night time, the LEDs lit up and blinked, displaying the characters. These devices were placed in highly visible locations, such as building walls, overpasses, train stations, etc. This sort of practice is called guerrilla marketing, and it has been successful elsewhere.
These LED boards looked innocuous to most people. However, some overreacted, gripped by fear of what were essentially blinking lights shaped like cartoon characters. Several calls were made to the police on Jan. 31 and lo and behold, a bomb scare began. Most of Boston shut down for several hours.
There is a line between vigilance and paranoia. It's important to keep your eyes open to possible "suspicious packages;" however, every object in a city, from trash cans to backpacks to trucks, is a potential bomb. All I'm asking is for people to use some common sense. If you truly spot something that strikes you as being odd (such as an unattended backpack on a train or bus), then please report it. But don't actively go out looking for suspicious packages, as it seems some people do, because everything you encounter on the street will fit that label.
This incident got me thinking: What if this were an art project? In New York and other big cities, slightly mysterious art projects similar in nature to this happen all the time. Should we now fear unconventional art or advertising because these media can potentially be used by Al Qaida to hide bombs?
Five years after Sept. 11, one must wonder whether this nation isn't becoming just a bit too paranoid when Lite-Brite boards are able to shut down New England's most populous city for the afternoon. As a friend at Northeastern University said to me the other day, "If we can't put up LED versions of Carl and Meatwad in public places, the terrorists win."
He's only half-joking.
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