Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens say they were hired to distribute “marketing devices”—one-foot high circuit boards with batteries that depict a cartoon character from a cult series known as “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”  According to Fox News, Berdovsky and Stevens planted 38 of the blinking signs throughout the Boston area three weeks ago.  It was a marketing stunt that went terribly wrong.  From Fox News:

A quirky publicity campaign for a late-night cartoon show generated far more attention than was intended when a slew of blinking electronic signs prompted fears of terrorism and the deployment of bomb squads.

And now Boston and Massachusetts authorities are out for blood. 

Here’s Mr. Berdovsky, a Boston artist, singing for his band, “Superfiction”:

 Berdovsky and Stevens were arrested yesterday and are scheduled to be arraigned this morning.  Each man was charged last night with one count of placing a hoax device and one count of disorderly conduct.  Massachusetts State Attorney General Martha Coakley says that Interference Inc., a marketing firm working for the Cartoon Network, hired the two to place the devices.  The Cartoon Network, which airs “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” is a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting (a division of Time Warner Inc.).

Fox News continues:

‘It is outrageous, in a post-9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme,’ [Boston Mayor Thomas] Menino said. ‘I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today’s incidents.’
[…]
Turner said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Philadelphia. As soon as the company realized the Boston problem, it said, law enforcement officials were told of their locations in all 10 cities.
[…]
‘We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger,’ said Phil Kent, Turner chairman.
[…]
Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down Wednesday and bomb squads were sent in.

Here are two images of a cartoon character from “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”  The character is called a “Mooninite.”  The image on the left is a photo of one of the marketing devices allegedly planted by Berdovsky and Stevens; the image on the right is a “Mooninite” as it appears on the late-night cartoon.

 And here’s a clip from an episode of the cartoon called “Moonauana”:

But here’s the really interesting part!  This is a nighttime video of Mr. Berdovsky and Mr. Stevens actually distributing the devices.  (Three weeks ago, one would assume.)  The video was available on Berdovsky’s Web site in QuickTime format.  I downloaded it, converted it to MPEG format, and it’s now available on YouTube.  (You can find the original video under the “contact” tab of the Berdovsky Web site, but I caution against going to the site right away.  It seems to be getting slammed.)

Notice that the flashing lights on the devices make them quite visible.  It’s a wonder someone hadn’t noticed them earlier than this.  According to Berdovsky, the film is “documentation of Glitchcrew’s guerilla graffiti light installation in Boston (an assignment for Interference Information Network, Cartoon Network and Aqua Teen Hunger Force).”

Yeah.  And documentation of two idiots getting themselves into deep doo-doo….  It sure seems that some of the folks who work for Interference Inc., the Cartoon Network, and Turner Broadcasting were in true rectal defilade mode, themselves, when they came up with this stunt.  Fox News quotes Berdovsky:

Berdovsky, an artist, told The Boston Globe he was hired by Interference and said he was ‘a little kind of freaked out,’ by the furor.
[…]
‘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,’ he told The Globe.

Someone, somewhere, is liable to be found responsible for the $500,000 in police costs that were incurred by Boston yesterday.  What do you want to bet it won’t be Berdovsky or Stevens?

For more information on guerilla marketing, or to watch “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”:

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