Settlement Reached in Aqua Teen Movie Stunt Turned Boston Bomb Scare

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakly has announced that Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS) and the advertising company they hired have agreed to pay two million dollars in retribution in a settlement regarding a recent publicity stunt turned terror/bomb scare.

When an employee of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spotted a device with wires and lights on a stanchion that supports an elevated section of Interstate 93 (I-93), above Sullivan Station, it resulted in the Boston Police Bomb Squad receiving a phone call from the MBTA requesting assistance in identifying the device.

Boston police officers mistakenly identified the small electronic devices found throughout Boston and the surrounding cities of Cambridge and Somerville as improvised explosive devices (IEDS). Parts of the interstate were closed and after more of these devices were spotted, bridges were closed and boat traffic stopped by the Coast Guard.

These suspicious devices turned out to be innocent battery-powered LED placards with an image of a cartoon character called a "mooninite" giving the middle finger that was used in a guerrilla marketing campaign.

Apparently Cartoon Network had hired an advertising company called Interference Inc., to promote the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie, which opens in theaters on March 23^rd. The film is based on the animated TV series Aqua Teen Hunger Force (ATHF) on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim late-night programming block. Cartoon Network is apparently the actual client of the firm and their parent company is Turner Broadcasting Systems. Interference Inc., then hired two men, Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, to place 38 devices at various locations across the city.