it’s haircuts of the 1970s
The plot thickness, south of the border, in the guerrilla marketing of Aqua Teen Hunger Force brouhaha. The story so far:
1. Turner hires Interference (an ad firm) to place the light-up Mooninites giving the finger in many places in many cities. The Mooninites happily flip the bird for two to three weeks unnoticed by the paranoid.
2. Someone in Boston panics, leading to large-scale city-wide freak-out and bomb scare. The installation artists (Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28) hired to place the ads in Boston are arrested for placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.
3. Apparently these two still know the meaning of 'irony' and 'satire'. Upon making bail, they tell assembled reporters, “What we really want to talk about today - it’s kind of important to some people - it’s haircuts of the 1970s.”
4. Whether or not Turner Broadcasting or its directors
a) have a sense of humour
b) believe in freedom of expression
or
c) think they've done anything remotely linked to terrorism
Turner has agree to pay $2M in compensation.
Personally, while I am unconcerned with Turner's finances and the cost incurred, whether fairly or not, and I'm sure that this is motivated by legal advice and the bottom line, I am disappointed. I don't even think it's fair to call the light box marketing campaign a "hoax". They were not trying to pretend the light boxes were bombs! Arguably, if the light boxes were placed on private property someone could chose to describe them as vandalism, but that's about as far as it goes. If the public doesn't know what a light box looks like, does that make the originator culpable of perpetrating a hoax, or should the state, which has whipped up such a state of constant paranoia with their "post-9-11" this and that, bear some of the responsibility for the resulting panic? Homeland security is the little boy who cried wolf, now grown and drunk on power, going around prosecuting others for drawing pictures of chihuahuas... since someone might mistake them for wolves.
As the arrested artist Berdovsky said, “I find it kind of ridiculous that they’re making these statements on TV that we must not be safe from terrorism, because they were up there for three weeks and no one noticed. It’s pretty commonsensical to look at them and say this is a piece of art and installation.”
NBC reports, "Fans of the show mocked authorities for what they called an overreaction.
About a dozen fans gathered outside Charlestown District Court on Thursday morning with signs saying '1-31-07 Never Forget' and 'Free Peter.'"
1. Turner hires Interference (an ad firm) to place the light-up Mooninites giving the finger in many places in many cities. The Mooninites happily flip the bird for two to three weeks unnoticed by the paranoid.
2. Someone in Boston panics, leading to large-scale city-wide freak-out and bomb scare. The installation artists (Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28) hired to place the ads in Boston are arrested for placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.
3. Apparently these two still know the meaning of 'irony' and 'satire'. Upon making bail, they tell assembled reporters, “What we really want to talk about today - it’s kind of important to some people - it’s haircuts of the 1970s.”
4. Whether or not Turner Broadcasting or its directors
a) have a sense of humour
b) believe in freedom of expression
or
c) think they've done anything remotely linked to terrorism
Turner has agree to pay $2M in compensation.
Personally, while I am unconcerned with Turner's finances and the cost incurred, whether fairly or not, and I'm sure that this is motivated by legal advice and the bottom line, I am disappointed. I don't even think it's fair to call the light box marketing campaign a "hoax". They were not trying to pretend the light boxes were bombs! Arguably, if the light boxes were placed on private property someone could chose to describe them as vandalism, but that's about as far as it goes. If the public doesn't know what a light box looks like, does that make the originator culpable of perpetrating a hoax, or should the state, which has whipped up such a state of constant paranoia with their "post-9-11" this and that, bear some of the responsibility for the resulting panic? Homeland security is the little boy who cried wolf, now grown and drunk on power, going around prosecuting others for drawing pictures of chihuahuas... since someone might mistake them for wolves.
As the arrested artist Berdovsky said, “I find it kind of ridiculous that they’re making these statements on TV that we must not be safe from terrorism, because they were up there for three weeks and no one noticed. It’s pretty commonsensical to look at them and say this is a piece of art and installation.”
NBC reports, "Fans of the show mocked authorities for what they called an overreaction.
About a dozen fans gathered outside Charlestown District Court on Thursday morning with signs saying '1-31-07 Never Forget' and 'Free Peter.'"