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This really was peak marketing idiocy. I knew people who worked at Cartoon Network at the time. Jim Samples' disconnect and subsequent resignation reverberated

by tumnus 2y ago

This really was peak marketing idiocy. I knew people who worked at Cartoon Network at the time. Jim Samples' disconnect and subsequent resignation reverberated down the ranks and tanked a lot of careers and projects. Who would think that strapping battery operated devices to bridges with duct tape in any post-9/11 city would be a good idea?

aaron695 2y ago
[dead]
miah_ 2y ago
It was a LED moonite. It wasn't scary at all.
almostgotcaught 2y ago
> battery operated devices I love when people clutch pearls and say exaggerated things to justify it. What does "battery operated" even mean lolol. Is the phrase supposed to conjure images of IEDs or what? They were battery powered LED signs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic
- joemi 2y ago
  The very first sentence of the article you linked states that they were mistaken for IEDs.
  - almostgotcaught 2y ago
    I'm aware and what we're debating here is whether it was a rational reaction (not whether it happened).
    - thih9 2y ago
      I think in some ways it was - this was a marketing effort, outside of legislation and not consulted with authorities. A disproportionate response here will discourage other companies from similar guerrilla marketing. I doubt anyone wants more marketing, and especially unregulated marketing.
      - MBCook 2y ago
        Marketing departments are not required to consult with the local police department in the United States to find out if their campaigns will be an inconvenience.
        thih9 2y ago
        But can they post ads anywhere and in any form in a public space?
  - willis936 2y ago
    Should I report every lighted billboard I see on every block for potentially being an IED? Shall I call in every car for possibly being a car bomb? I see people on cell phones in the city constantly. Those could each be explosive devices.
  - netsharc 2y ago
    Because if someone was planting IEDs, they should be prominently visible, and have lights drawing attention to it... What IED handbook would these people be reading? Oh wait, maybe it's the handbook that says "Make them look like they're just for entertainment, so everyone will think they're just harmless marketing gimmicks.". But if so, the handbook should specify they should make it Mickey Mouse, not some obscure TV show...
    - mcmcmc 2y ago
      From an attacker perspective, drawing victims closer to the device before detonation would increase the lethality.
      - MBCook 2y ago
        But if it’s placed on a bridge it doesn’t really matter, your target is the people above on the bridge right? If anything in that circumstance it seems like it would make it more likely to be discovered and stop your plan.
  - mulmen 2y ago
    It also says “mistakenly”. > On the morning of January 31, 2007, the Boston Police Department and the Boston Fire Department mistakenly identified battery-powered LED placards depicting the Mooninites, characters from the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force, as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), leading to a massive panic.
bagels 2y ago
It's outrageous that anyone resigned or was fired over this other than city employees of Boston for lying about a stupid sign.
KennyBlanken 2y ago
I will never understand all the apologists. They were crudely constructed. There was no information attached to them (one of the things MIT hackers always did was place clear contact information, removal instructions, etc on anything they left somewhere public.) The devices had large cylinders wrapped in plastic. Sure, they could be batteries. They could also be containers of explosives. Some of them the character is angry, and giving the finger. Sure fits a "angry at the world" attitude of a bomb-maker. It doesn't seem to occur to people that bombs can be designed to attract attention, and can be booby-trapped to try and kill bomb disposal teams. It doesn't seem to have occurred to people that if you are a bomb squad or police commander, you don't have the luxury of saying "oh yeah, that thing strapped to the bridge support for an interstate, phsht, that probably isn't a bomb, that's probably just some weird vidyah game character" because if you're wrong, people die. No. You get people away from it and try to figure out what it is. Oh, and it turned out there had been a hoax bomb left in a hospital earlier by someone who was acting deranged, and incidents in NY and DC right before all this. Then a few years later, wouldn't you know...a few miles away, two assholes left a bunch of pressure cookers at the finish line of the marathon, killed a bunch of people and wounded dozens, murdered a campus cop, and then led police on a gunfire-filled chase through multiple towns.
- almostgotcaught 2y ago
  > The devices had large cylinders wrapped in plastic. Sure, they could be batteries. They were bog standard D batteries: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic#/media/File%3AMooninite2.jpg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic#... > Then a few years later, wouldn't you know. This has literally nothing to do with anything. > I will never understand all the apologists. Well some people are rational and some people aren't so it's only natural that the latter don't understand the former (ie that's usually how it goes)
  - KennyBlanken 2y ago
    > They were bog standard D batteries: I'm well aware. How is a bomb squad member supposed to know this, while looking at it stuck to the side of a bridge I-beam, wrapped in layers of black plastic? Bombs are often designed to blow up when disturbed, in hopes of injuring or killing a member of the bomb squad. I'd like to see you work a bomb squad and see how brave you are when you come across a package with some long cylinders wrapped in black plastic and wires sticking out, and how you feel when some smarmy programmer tells you "HAHA YOU'RE SO STUPID IT WAS JUST BATTERIES" after the fact. > This has literally nothing to do with anything. Yeah, it does. It shows that Boston police thinking the city might be a target of bombers wasn't so absurd and paranoid after all, and that appearance (the bombs were in cooking pots) means nothing.
selimthegrim 2y ago
I know somebody here in my city, who worked in audio editing for Cartoon Network, and apparently what he heard was that the FBI demanded somebody fall on their sword.
- mulmen 2y ago
  Why would the FBI have that power?
  - selimthegrim 2y ago
    The point was the FBI combined with the rather inflexible security people in Boston were probably threatening repercussions to Cartoon Network along the lines of their broadcast license
    - mulmen 2y ago
      What repercussions though? That sounds like a threat to abuse power.
      - yesco 2y ago
        That's because it was.
    - astura 2y ago
      Excuse me? Cartoon Network is a cable channel, it doesn't have a broadcast license.
      - selimthegrim 2y ago
        I didn’t ask for specifics but the government clearly wasn’t playing.
        astura 2y ago
        Your "friend" is just making shit up to sound important. Learn to have some critical thinking skills.
mrkeen 2y ago
They should have just used a key to gouge "THE MOON RULZ" on the mayor's car instead.

by tumnus 2y ago

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]

miah_ 2y ago

It was a LED moonite. It wasn't scary at all.

almostgotcaught 2y ago

> battery operated devices I love when people clutch pearls and say exaggerated things to justify it. What does "battery operated" even mean lolol. Is the phrase supposed to conjure images of IEDs or what? They were battery powered LED signs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic

joemi 2y ago
The very first sentence of the article you linked states that they were mistaken for IEDs.
- almostgotcaught 2y ago
  I'm aware and what we're debating here is whether it was a rational reaction (not whether it happened).
  - thih9 2y ago
    I think in some ways it was - this was a marketing effort, outside of legislation and not consulted with authorities. A disproportionate response here will discourage other companies from similar guerrilla marketing. I doubt anyone wants more marketing, and especially unregulated marketing.
    - MBCook 2y ago
      Marketing departments are not required to consult with the local police department in the United States to find out if their campaigns will be an inconvenience.
      - thih9 2y ago
        But can they post ads anywhere and in any form in a public space?
- willis936 2y ago
  Should I report every lighted billboard I see on every block for potentially being an IED? Shall I call in every car for possibly being a car bomb? I see people on cell phones in the city constantly. Those could each be explosive devices.
- netsharc 2y ago
  Because if someone was planting IEDs, they should be prominently visible, and have lights drawing attention to it... What IED handbook would these people be reading? Oh wait, maybe it's the handbook that says "Make them look like they're just for entertainment, so everyone will think they're just harmless marketing gimmicks.". But if so, the handbook should specify they should make it Mickey Mouse, not some obscure TV show...
  - mcmcmc 2y ago
    From an attacker perspective, drawing victims closer to the device before detonation would increase the lethality.
    - MBCook 2y ago
      But if it’s placed on a bridge it doesn’t really matter, your target is the people above on the bridge right? If anything in that circumstance it seems like it would make it more likely to be discovered and stop your plan.
- mulmen 2y ago
  It also says “mistakenly”. > On the morning of January 31, 2007, the Boston Police Department and the Boston Fire Department mistakenly identified battery-powered LED placards depicting the Mooninites, characters from the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force, as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), leading to a massive panic.

bagels 2y ago

It's outrageous that anyone resigned or was fired over this other than city employees of Boston for lying about a stupid sign.

KennyBlanken 2y ago

I will never understand all the apologists. They were crudely constructed. There was no information attached to them (one of the things MIT hackers always did was place clear contact information, removal instructions, etc on anything they left somewhere public.) The devices had large cylinders wrapped in plastic. Sure, they could be batteries. They could also be containers of explosives. Some of them the character is angry, and giving the finger. Sure fits a "angry at the world" attitude of a bomb-maker. It doesn't seem to occur to people that bombs can be designed to attract attention, and can be booby-trapped to try and kill bomb disposal teams. It doesn't seem to have occurred to people that if you are a bomb squad or police commander, you don't have the luxury of saying "oh yeah, that thing strapped to the bridge support for an interstate, phsht, that probably isn't a bomb, that's probably just some weird vidyah game character" because if you're wrong, people die. No. You get people away from it and try to figure out what it is. Oh, and it turned out there had been a hoax bomb left in a hospital earlier by someone who was acting deranged, and incidents in NY and DC right before all this. Then a few years later, wouldn't you know...a few miles away, two assholes left a bunch of pressure cookers at the finish line of the marathon, killed a bunch of people and wounded dozens, murdered a campus cop, and then led police on a gunfire-filled chase through multiple towns.

almostgotcaught 2y ago
> The devices had large cylinders wrapped in plastic. Sure, they could be batteries. They were bog standard D batteries: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic#/media/File%3AMooninite2.jpg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic#... > Then a few years later, wouldn't you know. This has literally nothing to do with anything. > I will never understand all the apologists. Well some people are rational and some people aren't so it's only natural that the latter don't understand the former (ie that's usually how it goes)
- KennyBlanken 2y ago
  > They were bog standard D batteries: I'm well aware. How is a bomb squad member supposed to know this, while looking at it stuck to the side of a bridge I-beam, wrapped in layers of black plastic? Bombs are often designed to blow up when disturbed, in hopes of injuring or killing a member of the bomb squad. I'd like to see you work a bomb squad and see how brave you are when you come across a package with some long cylinders wrapped in black plastic and wires sticking out, and how you feel when some smarmy programmer tells you "HAHA YOU'RE SO STUPID IT WAS JUST BATTERIES" after the fact. > This has literally nothing to do with anything. Yeah, it does. It shows that Boston police thinking the city might be a target of bombers wasn't so absurd and paranoid after all, and that appearance (the bombs were in cooking pots) means nothing.

selimthegrim 2y ago

I know somebody here in my city, who worked in audio editing for Cartoon Network, and apparently what he heard was that the FBI demanded somebody fall on their sword.

mulmen 2y ago
Why would the FBI have that power?
- selimthegrim 2y ago
  The point was the FBI combined with the rather inflexible security people in Boston were probably threatening repercussions to Cartoon Network along the lines of their broadcast license
  - mulmen 2y ago
    What repercussions though? That sounds like a threat to abuse power.
    - yesco 2y ago
      That's because it was.
  - astura 2y ago
    Excuse me? Cartoon Network is a cable channel, it doesn't have a broadcast license.
    - selimthegrim 2y ago
      I didn’t ask for specifics but the government clearly wasn’t playing.
      - astura 2y ago
        Your "friend" is just making shit up to sound important. Learn to have some critical thinking skills.

mrkeen 2y ago

They should have just used a key to gouge "THE MOON RULZ" on the mayor's car instead.