The Idea
The folks at Turner Broadcasting System placed lit-up versions of characters of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force on highways and other busy locations in Boston.
The displays also had wires, batteries and magnets as part of the apparatus, throwing the Boston Area into a tizzy because some thought they were bombs.
Why It’s More Than Average?
The idea in and of itself isn’t THAT incendiary. As far as non-traditional placements go, its ho hum. But, it’s gotten all sorts of free publicity and called attention to the Cartoon Network - publicity they never would have gotten without the bomb scare.
Now, I am by no means saying that causing public chaos is a good strategy.
But the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming has always taken a snarky, anti-establishment tact that resonates with the 18-25 year-old males that probably find this snafu funny. And this incidental free publicity plays right into their branding.
Which goes to show, big ides are often accidental.
I highly doubt anyone at Turner thought their promo would get confused with bombs. You don’t know what’s going to hit big or make a splash across the news, negative or positive. The important things is to do what you do best, put it out there for people to see and you might strike gold.
A) Seriously…who could confuse a cartoon character with a bomb?
B) Why did the Cartoon Network put these things on public property without telling someone. Maybe someone who worked for the city who could save the taxpayers all the money that went to pay bomb squads to search and destroy.
Will It Succeed?
I don’t know how many more people will watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force. And advertisers may shy away from advertising on the Cartoon network for a bit. I think there will be a spike in interest, and they may come out of the whole thing with an incremental increase in loyal viewers.
I doubt this promo cost them very much, unless the city of Boston succeeds in having them pick up the tab for the bomb squads. Overall, they probably came out ahead and are secretly high-fiving themselves over all the free pub.
How I found out about it
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Left by BOTDA on February 3rd, 2007