Boston brought to a standstill by cartoon ad campaign

Boston brought to a standstill by cartoon ad campaign

You may have heard that there was a little excitement in Boston yesterday. Long story, short: The Cartoon Network hired a “guerilla marketing” company to promote a movie version of one if its cartoons and they hired a couple of long-haird art-school types to place battery-powered, Lite-Brite images of a cartoon character all over Boston. The marketing promo was also done in about 10 cities total, but only Boston had the total freakout.

When one was discovered attached to a bridge overpass, the city went into lockdown mode while the bomb squad and every cop on the force was called in, bringing the city to a screeching halt. Nine total devices were found.

The guy who placed the packages is named Peter Berdovsky, aka Zebbler, and he documented the placement of these things in a video and pictures on his web site. (The site’s probably unavailable now, but I saw it last night.) Berdovsky and one of his friends have been arrested and charged with possession of a hoax device and disorderly conduct.

City and state officials are apoplectic and posturing for the cameras, Turner Broadcasting is apologetic and welcoming the publicity, and the people in the other cities where the campaign took place are wondering why it’s such a big deal in Boston.

Gen X: grow up; Law enforcement: pay attention

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