I live and work in Boston. This has been all over the news here. Our government incurred a large expense with the bomb disposal squads, police overtime to stop traffic; and for a time the subways were shut down.
IMHO, the marketers definitely had an obligation to do 2 things: a) notify local law enforcement about their intent to put these devices, and b) ask the permission of the private property owners upon whose property they placed the devices. They didn't do either. I don't know what you've read, but devices were hung on both private and public property here in Boston. Regarding the youth that support this "guerilla marketing", their approach to any physical space is the same as their approach to content on the Internet... anything and any space is fair game for their purposes. They don't seem to understand (or don't care) that placing the devices on people's private property without their permission is the same as defacing walls with graffitti... not that graffitti is acceptable anywhere. People, especially the youth, need to remember that this is the town where 2 planes took off from our airport that crashed into buildings on 9-11. So the heightened state of vigilance here is understandable and appropriate. IMHO, the people that yell today about our local government's supposed "over reaction" would likely be the same people yelling if the government didn't respond and it was a true terrorist attack. It is unclear if the devices were up for 3 weeks here. They were up longer in other cities, but most people here say they weren't up long here. People need to remember that there is already some unease in Boston. There are 2 nuclear reactors within a 1.5 hour drive of the city; plus several biochemical facilities within city limits, and one of the 4 larges LNG terminals is across Boston harbor in Chelsea. With all of those high-value targets nearby, a heightened state of vigilence is very appropriate, IMHO. I definitely believe that the Turner Network and the Cartoon Network should reimburse my city for their expenses. I don't want to pay those expenses thru higher taxes, to fund their self-interested marketing stunt. If they don't pay, you can bet I'll work hard for a boycott of their cable channels. George Captain USS Ronald E. McNair (Boston) --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > I'm not sure what to say about this publicity stunt. Seeing as how the devices aren't small, and they are lighted advertisements, didn't the marketers have some kind of obligation to get permission to put them out? This was a little more than nailing a sign to a telephone pole, after all. If nothing else, I'd have obtained some type of permission from the city before dumping several dozen electronic devices on bridges and stuff. They might have been simply destroyed at best. And, I have to say, this marketing campaign wasn't all that effective if the things sat unnoticed for three weeks. I live in Atlanta, spend all my time in the city where this campaign should be most noticeable. Most of all, I drive by the Cartoon Network headquarters at least ten times a week, and I *never* saw a one-foot cartoon character giving me the finger! > > Did any of you in Austin, San Fran, Chi-Town, or NYC notice these things? > > ********************************************** > > 2 Men Held on Bond in Boston Hoax Case > By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press Writer > 3 hours ago > BOSTON - Two men who authorities say placed electronic advertising devices around the city were released from jail Thursday, apparently amused with the publicity stunt that stirred fears of terrorism and shut down parts of the city. <snip>
