Boston Continues Overreacting to Aqua Teen Stunt

As if the City of Boston hadn't embarrassed itself enough with the whole Aqua Teen nonsense and their humorless approach to the aftermath, the city council is now looking to legislate their way to avoiding these incidents from reoccurring by licensing marketers. While this is another laughable response, it is also completely unrealistic to implement (how do you decide who is a marketer - if I put the name of my business on my delivery truck, am I a "marketer"?) and will make Boston a backwater that national outfits decide isn't worth the additional expense to even bother advertising here.

Everyone Looks Bad in Aqua Teen Aftermath

Last week's hysterical/sad/alarming Aqua Teen Hunger Force ad campaign gone horribly wrong (or right, depending on your objectives) has since made pretty much all parties look bad. Turner initially wimped out with a meaningless statement, then eventually ponied up $2 million to cover the costs of the over-zealous reaction by the Boston-area authorities. The artists are starting to look pretty bad, now that it's come out they were filming the chaos instead of alerting someone that there were not any bombs (while it is comical, it also did cost a lot of money, a lot of stress, delayed many people trying to go about their business and someone could have been hurt during the "disarming" process). And, of course, the city of Boston comes off looking completely humorless in this whole endeavor, not to mention the aura of paranoia.

Prediction: Turner Broadcasting Will Be Spending Money in Beantown

After shutting down most of Boston today with their Aqua Teen Hunger Force marketing stunt, I'm thinking that Turner Broadcasting is going to be in some serious trouble. My only question is what kind of goodwill will those big boys from Atlanta be doling out. Maybe a CNN Center for the Homeless? The TBS School for the Deaf? A TNT Greenway addition? I just can't see them NOT being obliged to do some serious mea culpa action.

Plus, what took them so long to come forward? The "packages" first appeared this morning, but it wasn't until the 6 o'clock news that they were making a statement? I'm sure there were quite a few lawyers in on this one:

The ''packages'' in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim’s animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger.

Way to avoid taking any responsibility or showing any remorse!