Boston descended into chaos today, as nine suspicious packages were discovered in crowded public places throughout my fair city (See also Boston.com’s photo series).

Turns out, the packages were electronic devices all part of a guerilla marketing campaign by Turner Brodcasting.

Here’s the public apology that Turner just issued this afternoon:

The ”packages” in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim’s animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger.

Shirley Powell
SVP, Corporate Communications

I’d really like to get a better look at these “packages” in the context of where they were placed in the city to make a complete judgment, but at this stage, it’s pretty hard to come up with any sort of justifcation for Turner’s tactics.

Here’s hoping this isn’t the kind of “outrageous stunt” that Ed Lee was imagining in his post on PR brainstorming sessions.

Update: Christopher Penn, who’s commented below, has a brilliant suggestion: the City of Boston, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and its citizens should all bill Turner Brodcasting for our valuable time and effort lost and wasted due to this seriously flawed — and, it’s appearing more and more, very stupid — marketing campaign.

(Hat tip: C.C. Chapman)

Technorati Tags: Boston, Turner, Boston bomb threat

Share This