Better Safe than Sorry and Better late than Never: Thoughts (and Facts) on the Mooninite Bomb Scare
I have been following the Adult Swim debacle in Boston for a few days now. The whole incident has become a big thing on the internet and will be popular for exactly two more days before we're on to the next thing. Now, the Adult Swim internet hipsters think they know everything but there is a lot more to the incident than is really being let on.
After a lot of really interested research I have put together a fact-based look on many of the elements that went into the events of last Wednesday. Many different things combined to create the response which has been much derided by know-it-all Aqua Teen Hipsters on the blogosphere. Once you start digging deeper and seeing how a huge number of different events combined and coalesced into the major (and ridiculous-seeming) event that it did. The constant supply of jokes may be funny, but this event did raise some serious issues some of which still need to be addressed.
On Monday, Turner Networks announced it was paying $2 Million dollars in restitution to Boston, Cambridge, Sommerville, and the MBTA to pay for the costs of the security. The payment came out of negotiations between the impacted cities and Turner Networks who also acknowledged given the information available at the time the police did not overreact. The restitution also absolves them from any criminal or civil charges. Attorney General Martha Coakley announced she was seeking a settlement with the two men who installed the signs.
UPDATE: SUNDAY FEB 11 - Cartoon Network President John Samples, has stepped down from the unit of Time Warner Inc's Turner Broadcasting. Samples stated: "I feel compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch." Whether or not, he was forced to step down to save face by Turner Network execs or whether it was voluntary, his personal responsibility for the fiasco in Boston is tenuous at best.
If you're excruciatingly curious, you can always check out the Timeline of Events. Police and bomb squads are trained to treat each potential bomb as sui generis, or each as their own. Every potential threat is to be treated as a threat to minimize the danger. There is nothing inherently flawed or stupid about this established method. Besides, it wouldn't have been the first time 'fake' bombs were placed to divert attention from the real ones.
My Thoughts
If the LULZ-ing hipsters, and chuckling midnight pundits, took a moment to actually research what happened they might discover this whole incident was much more complicated than they could imagine, and certainly much more than "OMFG LITEBRITE BOMBS!!11 LULZ!!1". This is a situation where many different elements combined in just such a way as to create a major scare. No doubt, this whole thing is a learning experience for everyone that was involved particularly the Boston and federal authorities who are frankly came out looking pretty ridiculous - but only because there proved to be no danger in the end. But who really should be looking bad are Turner Networks and Interference, Inc who never informed Boston of the installation of these signs and when the events actually began unfolding, both companies willfully delayed informing the authorities. This (in)action then borders on criminal in my opinion, and it is those companies not the "performance artists" who installed them who should be held accountable. But Turner and Interference are both laughing their way to the bank from the publicity and are all too happy to let the "performance artists" who were paid a paltry $300 hang out to dry. The state is going to have one hell of a time trying to "prove" that the two guys put up the signs to willfully cause chaos an disruption. But who knows, maybe the Mooninites were planning this all along.
I'm just glad LULZing hipsters aren't managing police procedure since with their logic something with a recognizable character on it absolutely couldn't be a bomb, because it has a cute cartoon on it!. Despite it all, it is always better to be safe than sorry. It is a shame that all the energy spent willfully painting these events as absurdist, could instead be inspiring us to critique the post-9/11 culture that this is just another reminder of. To critique the kind of over-saturated media culture that has lead to companies feeling the only way to reach the discerning and indifferent consumer is to invade places where advertising has no business being via non-traditional methods like viral and guerilla marketing. But I guess simplistically making fun of things is a lot harder than facing ourselves.
After a lot of really interested research I have put together a fact-based look on many of the elements that went into the events of last Wednesday. Many different things combined to create the response which has been much derided by know-it-all Aqua Teen Hipsters on the blogosphere. Once you start digging deeper and seeing how a huge number of different events combined and coalesced into the major (and ridiculous-seeming) event that it did. The constant supply of jokes may be funny, but this event did raise some serious issues some of which still need to be addressed.
- Two mock pipebombs were discovered at the same time reports were coming in on the marketing signs: These were described as " a very realistic-looking fake [pipebombs]" and were both near important landmarks: The Longfellow Bridge and near Tuft's New England Medical Center. The police assumed the bomb-look-alikes were related to the other 28 devices the police had discovered, and lead to a panic about a significant terrorist attack.
- The devices in Boston were placed in more sensitive locations compared to other cities These locations included near public transportation systems, placed systematically on bridges over major roads, on support girders, etc. Only in two other cities Chicago and Philadelphia where the devices had been placed near major transportation hubs. This differs from other cities where the devices were placed on buildings, streetlights, and signs.
- Local Police received reports from New York City and Washington D.C about potential terrorist attacks: "Had we simply found these cartoon characters stuck here and there," [Police Commissioner Ed] Davis said yesterday, "I can assure you this thing would have been tamped down in pretty short order."
- An unidentified white man made big scary threats where one of the fake pipe bombs was planted:According to Boston police Commissioner Ed Davis, the phony pipe bomb discovered inside Tufts-New England Medical Center at 1 p.m. Wednesday was accompanied by a security guard's description of an agitated white male fleeing the hospital saying, "God is warning you that today is going to be a sad day."
- "Numerous" reports on the devices came in very rapidly:"This incident unfolded in a rather unique way," he said. "There was the first incident at 9, and then after 1 p.m. there were a series of incidents and a flood of calls that came in that indicated that someone was putting these devices in places that affected rail transportation, bridges, and medical facilities."..."A device affixed to a support beam for a highway adjacent to a very busy subway and bus hub for the T?" asked T general manager Daniel A. Grabauskas. "And then in short order we hear about something under the Longfellow Bridge, the main arterial link between Cambridge and Boston over which the Red Line runs? Any suspicious activity around those locations would raise attention."
- Interference, Inc failed to contact Law Enforcement about the devices: The company was aware of the security hooplah happening by late morning, but told the two men who put up the signs NOT to contact police about the true nature of the signs. Interference, Inc didn't contact the police until the early evening, but did disclose the locations of all the devices. Turner Networks on the other hand, took until a little before 4PM to get in contact with local and Federal authorities and explained the situation but was unable to give any specific information. (In my opinion Interference, Inc are much more responsible then Turner Networks).
- This is not the first time 'guerilla advertising' has raised both legal and ethical issues: Media companies and marketing firms have saturated our lives with advertisements. The average American views over 3,000 advertisements a day. As a result, we've become desensitized as a culture and as a people. Marketers are fighting back invading our lives ever deeper with the presence of advertising in places advertising many feel shouldn't be, all in desperate gamble to get your attention and your money. Moreover, marketers are devising innovative ways of potentially reaching markets through non-traditional means. On the internet alone there are many examples, Sony's PSP Rap and blogger fiasco, 'lonelygirl' on YouTube to name two recent examples. IBM's Peace Love Linux backfired as they spraypainted city and private property, Microsoft's NYC buttery stickers and many more. Very often these advertisements are placed without permission and are left to be cleaned up by the property owners or the city.
- Law Enforcement in other cities were unaware of the devices: But a critical difference where in Boston numerous reports coinciding with a "real" hoax threat built a huge scare.
- The devices placed in other cities have all been taken down by law enforcement
- According to other cities: Boston's response to the situation was normal given the information at the time "I think Boston reacted the way they did because someone noticed the devices and rightly thought that they might be dangerous," Atlanta Police spokesman Joe Cobb said in a telephone interview. "I would think that we would have reacted similarly."
- Interference, Inc has been closed the last two days and have taken their website down: As of Saturday the site is up with only an apology to the City of Boston.
On Monday, Turner Networks announced it was paying $2 Million dollars in restitution to Boston, Cambridge, Sommerville, and the MBTA to pay for the costs of the security. The payment came out of negotiations between the impacted cities and Turner Networks who also acknowledged given the information available at the time the police did not overreact. The restitution also absolves them from any criminal or civil charges. Attorney General Martha Coakley announced she was seeking a settlement with the two men who installed the signs.
UPDATE: SUNDAY FEB 11 - Cartoon Network President John Samples, has stepped down from the unit of Time Warner Inc's Turner Broadcasting. Samples stated: "I feel compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch." Whether or not, he was forced to step down to save face by Turner Network execs or whether it was voluntary, his personal responsibility for the fiasco in Boston is tenuous at best.
If you're excruciatingly curious, you can always check out the Timeline of Events. Police and bomb squads are trained to treat each potential bomb as sui generis, or each as their own. Every potential threat is to be treated as a threat to minimize the danger. There is nothing inherently flawed or stupid about this established method. Besides, it wouldn't have been the first time 'fake' bombs were placed to divert attention from the real ones.
My Thoughts
If the LULZ-ing hipsters, and chuckling midnight pundits, took a moment to actually research what happened they might discover this whole incident was much more complicated than they could imagine, and certainly much more than "OMFG LITEBRITE BOMBS!!11 LULZ!!1". This is a situation where many different elements combined in just such a way as to create a major scare. No doubt, this whole thing is a learning experience for everyone that was involved particularly the Boston and federal authorities who are frankly came out looking pretty ridiculous - but only because there proved to be no danger in the end. But who really should be looking bad are Turner Networks and Interference, Inc who never informed Boston of the installation of these signs and when the events actually began unfolding, both companies willfully delayed informing the authorities. This (in)action then borders on criminal in my opinion, and it is those companies not the "performance artists" who installed them who should be held accountable. But Turner and Interference are both laughing their way to the bank from the publicity and are all too happy to let the "performance artists" who were paid a paltry $300 hang out to dry. The state is going to have one hell of a time trying to "prove" that the two guys put up the signs to willfully cause chaos an disruption. But who knows, maybe the Mooninites were planning this all along.
I'm just glad LULZing hipsters aren't managing police procedure since with their logic something with a recognizable character on it absolutely couldn't be a bomb, because it has a cute cartoon on it!. Despite it all, it is always better to be safe than sorry. It is a shame that all the energy spent willfully painting these events as absurdist, could instead be inspiring us to critique the post-9/11 culture that this is just another reminder of. To critique the kind of over-saturated media culture that has lead to companies feeling the only way to reach the discerning and indifferent consumer is to invade places where advertising has no business being via non-traditional methods like viral and guerilla marketing. But I guess simplistically making fun of things is a lot harder than facing ourselves.