If you live in a cave and have not seen the news conference of the two fellows accused of creating a disturbance by placing so-called "hoax bombs" in Boston, go to this site:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/01/boston.bombscare/index.html

and scroll down the article to this video link:

(Watch suspects avoid answering reporters' questions )

Apparently, the "hoax bombs" were part of an advertising campaign for a Turner Network cartoon called Adult Swim, and similar devices were placed in Boston, LA, NYC, Austin, Chicago, Seattle and other cities. Apparently, someone mistook the advertising for a terrorist bomb.

For anyone who has been unjustly attacked by the media, you should enjoy this clip.

I predict the "alleged suspects" will be on Saturday Night Live soon and probably have their phone ringing off the wall with Hollywood offers.

What is it about Boston? These had been put up in several other cities including New York and Austin. Only one other city actually shut anything down--a bridge in NYC for a short period. In most cities the authorities just took them down if they were on public property.

Janette A

What's wrong with notifying law enforcement before using these advertising hoaxes. If these were a real bomb and Boston did not respond then everyone would be fuming, asking what's wrong with the police? It seems to put police between a rock and a hard place - I thought it all started when people actually called in about the suspicious looking packages. Obviously the police could not know what it was until they had a chance to look at it. I think I would rather the police be safe than sorry. Maybe people in the other cities did not call in the suspicious looking packages.

People who confuse a lite brite with a bomb simply aren't that bright.

If it is anyone's fault in a criminal sense, I tend to favor the Turner network or the advertising company who placed the devices and who hired the fellows to put them up. I am surprised that no one had the foresight to predict that these devices could be a problem.

Not blaming Boston for their response. Better safe than sorry in this day and age.

But I did find the treatment of the media humorous, even if it does not inure to the benefit of the two fellows featured.

There would have to be substantial fines and/or penalties to offset the free publicity buzz Turner generated with its strategically-placed sophomoric lite-brites. While there may be outrage, people now know about "Adult Swim," where few probably would have without this stunt or a high-dollar advertising campaign.

As an aside, when thinking about a response to a media feeding frenzy, I'm reminded (in my own sophomoric way) of the scene in "Strange Brew" where the McKenzie brothers are walking up the stairway to the courthouse with their lawyer when confronted by the obligatory mob of reporters, cameras and microphones. The lawyer then goes full-bore Bruce Lee on the reporters, at which point Bob turns to his brother Doug and says, "Chuck Norris for the defense, eh?"

quote:

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Originally posted by Scott Brumley:
"Chuck Norris for the defense, eh?"

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Chuck would be a prosecutor if he were a lawyer.