Ad Campaign Gone Wrong?
Two men were charged in connection with the advertising campaign that turned into a terror scare and sent the city of Boston into chaos. Read the article and view the video at: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2841646&page=1
After reading about this, how do you feel? Do you think these Boston pranksters are taking this too lightly or are law officials taking the stunt too seriously? Assess how this stunt could have been figured out much sooner? Criticize the connection between CNN and Turner's Cartoon Network. Hypothesize any future problems that might occur as a result of this stunt....
After reading about this, how do you feel? Do you think these Boston pranksters are taking this too lightly or are law officials taking the stunt too seriously? Assess how this stunt could have been figured out much sooner? Criticize the connection between CNN and Turner's Cartoon Network. Hypothesize any future problems that might occur as a result of this stunt....
posted by Mrs. Osimanti at 2:23 PM
16 Comments:
I think this whole scenario was just a major misunderstanding. Those two guys that put up the light-up cartoons were just advertising a show. But by not telling any officials about what they were doing, and also putting them up during this semi-paranoidal time in the US, it was not recepted in the way they thought it would be.
I do not think that they should be arrested for putting up the signs. I think the people over-reacted to the slightly menacing cartoon that no one recognized. If those two pranksters had put up 38 signs with light up bananas, people would have just laughed and forgotten about it.
In truth, the pranksters should recognize that they scared a lot of people, and the law officials should realize that it was not the prankster's faults that they were supposedly told to keep quite about the whole thing, and werent actually threatening people.
I think that the law enforcement officers are pretty stupid to think that this was a bomb. When was the last time you heard of a bomb that was a little blinking cartoon-looking character???? I mean seriously, would a terrorist just place these things all over the city in obvious places where hundreds of people could view them and potentially alert law enforcement!!?? No. A terrorist would hide the bombs not put them in the open, which could jeopardize their functionallity.
What a good show.
Nina, I think they didn't know it would cause this huge thing it did, but I bet they are very happy it did. And to certain extent they probably would like to get a little jail time, even if just for like a week or so, because any publicity is good publicity.
ps: I love this show. Its good.
I don't think that this was meant to scare anyone at all, as a lot of people have said. How could a board of lights be mistaken for a terrorist threat? Law enforcement is definitely taking this way too seroiusly. However I think it was irresponsible of the artists and the company to not notify the city about it before they put up the billboard. Also, the artists did not seem to be taking the law enforcement official seriously, even though it was ridiculous to arrest them in the first place.
CNN and Cartoon Network will probably be really tense with each other because of this. If they were ever affiliated with one another in the past, those ties will probably be discontinued. Hopefully they can find a resolution for the time being.
I agree with Heather, I also do not think that the purpose of this was to intentionally scare people. Their statment even stated that, "Nothing undertaken by our firm was in any way intended to cause anxiety, fear or discomfort to anyone." Like Amelia said, this situation was just a complete misunderstanding.
On the other hand, Americas are paranoid about terrorism now, so I understand how Americans were scared after seeing this. I do not believe they should be arrested for putting up these signs, yet they should understand the effect their "prank" had on Americans. I feel as though, they should have showed the city their billboard before it was put up. Is there a law stating that billboards must be accepted by the city before it can be put up? If there is no such law, maybe there should be one...
I believe the officials overreacted to this. The police should have been notified of this ad campaign, whether or not it crossed the mens minds that it could ne viewed as a terror threat. The police should have been told of this unique sort of advertising because the moon nites were put in places such as bridges and buildings. Besides this, I don't think the men or the advertisement were wrong. It was just misinterpretated and there really isn't anyone to blame.
It turned out to be a joke, but the police are jsut trying to protect the people. It could have been really terrorism.
I was confused after reading the article as to who actually took the fall for the "prank"; from what I got, it sounds like both the two artists and the Turner company faced charges. I think that law enforcement dealt with the situation appropriately. With all of the hype today about terrorism a stunt like that ad campaign was bound to stir up trouble. I think that Turner should have predicted the fear as a result of the project.
I think Curran brought up a good point about the show gaining publicity. I am sure the producers of the show were not unhappy about the media coverage on the incident. I find no problem that the law enforcement officers thought it was terrorism, but now they are taking things too far.
I think that whole advertising gone wrong scenario was ridiculous. I find it amazing how things can be treated so strictly and other problems can go completely undetected. Further more I think the pranksters don't deserve punishment because they were just advertising. Ive seen much worse advertising posted around the city and everyone is over reacting about this.
It is understandable why people overreacted to the signs. We're living in a dangerous time and the simplest things that 20 years ago might have meant nothing are now being harshly scrutenized for signs of hostility. The pranksters should have realized that by not telling anyone, what were they supposed to think? They had no choice but to react in the fullest extent. We all know too that, were they not to act at all to these cartoons, there would be people making a fuss that they were lax on security, and saying things like "well what if it HAD been a bomb?" Basically, either way, people aren't doing the right thing. I do think that the pranksters were out of line though by placing 38 menacing, light-up cartoons in rather conspicuous places without telling anyone. They should have known what would have happened.
I agree with Nina, that the police are blowing this out of proportion, and i don't think the guys should be punished. However, I do understand why some people over reacted. Different people are going to feel differntly about certain happenings. There are some who can laugh about it and ignore it, but there are others who probably got extremely scared. You cna never tell how people will react to something and the ones who got scared and phones the police probablt felt they were doing the right thing and were genuinely frightened. For the most part, the law and police are there to make people feel safe, and if someone does something to disrupt that feeling, then they get punished to restore that feeling. The officers are just doing their jobs.
I agree with Chris that why would someone place a bomb out in the open. But the police are doing what they need to do. Even if it seems stupid it is propably for the better.
Personally, I think the whole thing got taken WAYYY out of hand, and blown way of of proportion. Its obvious that in the world we live in today, with the threats we deal with, it was a stupid idea on the campaigners part to create an ad like that. Unfortunately, the society we live in acts extremely protective against the slightest bit of anything looking like a bomb or terrorist attack. It is good that the law enforcements took action, but I also feel bad for the people who made the campaign. When you think about it, the advertisement did kind of work. With all the media it got from the bomb incident, it got people curious (atleast me) to find more out about this show on cartoon network. It was an unorthodox method but it worked for me.
I also agree with Ben. Police should have taken it seriously. If it had been true, and they acted as though it was a joke the result would have been devistating. Law enforcers should always be on the top of their game becuase if they treat a real situation like a hoax not only are the putting lives at risk, they are making the public angry.
I think that the police were in a lose, lose situation. Obviously people were angry that the poice took it to the level that they did over a cartoon. But if theyt treated it like a joke, people would have been saying, "Why didn't they treat that like a real threat? It could have been real and they did nothing about it. Are they really doing everything they can to protect us?". So either way i think the police would have felt the heat from this
The men themselves i think were just cought in a missunderstanding. I personally do not think they should have been arrested for hanging posters over the city for Cartoon Network but i see where the police are coming from.
The law enforcement divisions unquestionably went over the top with this, but the show got a load of exposure as a result. No one was in a very bad situation. Furthermore, I saw the press conference about the 2 men who did the advertisement and they are completely unaffected by the entire event.
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