2007 Boston Bomb Scare – Oh Boston, Why So Serious?

I almost missed this, but 5 years ago today, Boston made the news by overreacting to a viral marking campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The whole scenario is totally laughable. In a nutshell, it’s 2007. The phrase viral marketing is the major buzzword and Comedy Central hires Interference Inc. to come up with a marketing campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The solution was a multi city guerrilla campaign to hang LED circuit boards in various places through major US markets. Boston being such a divided city was the obvious patsy for the breakdown in the plan. Some schmuck Pats fan on his way to work spots a what most people would would describe as a “Lite Bright”, but mistakes it for a “mysterious device”. He calls it into the Boston PD, who then call in the bomb squad who then detonate the device. The city of Boston is now the laughing stock of the US so instead of saying, “haha, very funny you got us”, they arrest the guys hired to install the devices charging them with planting a “hoax device” with the intent to panic the public, and then press charges against Comedy Central.

5 years ago today the Boston Police Department mistakenly identified battery-powered LED placards resembling the Mooninite characters in the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force found throughout Boston, Massachusetts and the surrounding cities of Cambridge and Somerville as improvised explosive devices. The bomb squad used a small explosive filled with water to destroy it as a precaution. The placards were part of a guerrilla marketing campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, a film based on the animated television series, Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Cartoon Network’s late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said the device “had a very sinister appearance. It had a battery behind it, and wires.” Others compared the displays to the Lite-Brite electric toy in appearance.

Why do I blog this you ask? Setting aside the hilarity of the whole situation for just one moment, the resulting spoof that College Humor created is in my opinion one of the single greatest spoofs on the internet today. It’s in my top five links that I pull out when comparing lesser known internet memes. Any time someone having a hard time trying to figure out how to solve a project, my solution has always been to “make it blink”. Anyhow, watch the video.

See more at CollegeHumor

Via: Wikipedia: 2007 Boston Bomb Scare