Photos: Tech marketing stunts gone awry

by ZDNet Author | February 1, 2007 3:00pm PST | Image 1 of 8

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What started off as a guerrilla marketing scheme by Turner Broadcasting to promote a new film featuring Cartoon Network cult show Aqua Teen Hunger Force, evolved, at least in Boston, into a citywide bomb scare Wednesday. The city ground to a virtual halt Wednesday after suspicious packages--magnetic boards (shown here) with LEDs displaying characters from the show giving the finger--were discovered on bridges, highways and bus depots.

Bomb squads were called in, roads were blocked off, the Charles River was closed to traffic, and Peter Berdowsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, who were reportedly hired to put the devices around town, were arrested on charges of placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.

Now that it's over, the online water cooler is buzzing away with comments about how the situation was handled. One CNET News.com reader pointed out that the Mooninite characters in Aqua Teen Hunger Force, have long been plotting to shut down a city "and they finally succeeded." And one entrepreneurial outfit is already selling t-shirts with a Mooninite and the slogan "ATHF is the bomb."

The ordeal was reminiscent of other recent tech marketing campaigns that, while getting plenty of publicity, have encountered glitches along the way.

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