Two students from Mass Art were arrested for posting contraptions
around Boston assumed to be explosive devices. In fact, they were
digital light sources designed to advertising a cartoon show on
Turner Broadcasting. The method known as guerilla advertising, so
common these days, backfired (or did it?) when the city was virtually shut down as bomb squads removed the threatening materials. City officials would not accept Turner's apology and further investigation, including possible criminal prosecution is threatened.
More info here and here (with some hilarious comments), as well as from the Boston Globe, and CNN.
Should this go unpunished? Is it more than a mere advertising prank?
But more important, given the old adage "any publicity is good
publicity" do you think this was the intended outcome of the
campaign, or an unintended consequence? |