Turner exec quits over Boston farce
p2pnet.net News:- It was a given that heads would roll following Turner Broadcasting System’s deeply embarrassing effort to promote its Aqua Teen Hunger Force in Boston.
It culminated in a $2 million order to, “reimburse federal, state and local agencies for their response to the incident, which led officials to close a highway, bridges, subway stations and part of the Charles River for hours after dozens of the devices, which resemble Lite-Brite toys, were found in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville”.
“The terrorist attack on Boston carried out last week by little middle-finger-baring cartoon characters has claimed its first victim,” says The Washington Post.
And that was Jim Samples, head of Turner’s Cartoon Network. After 13 years, he resigned, taking responsibility for having deployed the, “little Lite-Brite creatures that caused widespread panic in the city”.
Samples may have turned the creatures loose, but Interference Inc, a self-described guerrilla marketing company whose clients include New York Magazine, Discovery Channel, Sony Erricson and MTV, dreamed them up.
Will Interference similarly report a resignation?
Central Boston was, “virtually paralyzed for hours on Jan. 31 as bomb squads closed highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River to round up boards featuring the stars of a TV show about a box of french fries, his milkshake best friend and a meatball,” says The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, “It’s a well-known truth that nobody in the entertainment industry ever steps down to take responsibility for anything if they are otherwise wildly successful at what they do,” says the story, adding, “Samples’s e-mail yesterday revved up rumors his resignation had as much to do with Cartoon Network’s mediocre ratings as with the little ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ juvenile delinquent ‘mooninite’ character that scared the stuffing out of Boston that fateful day. Adult Swim, for instance, is averaging about 472,000 viewers in its target age bracket of 18 to 34 — compared with 471,000 viewers last year.”
Also See:
deeply embarrassing – Aqua Teen PR stunt bombs, February 9, 2007
The Washington Post – Turner Exec Quits After Ad Stunt Panics Boston, February 10, 2007
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February 12th, 2007 at 4:28 am
Idiots! They knew EXACTLY what they were doing when they placed those stupid electronic devices under bridges! All they did was start a panic. I hope they get fined big time for that stupid publicity stunt.