Better Living Through Advertising

You've probably already seen the news story about the morons in Boston who, to promote a cartoon series on Adult Swim, put light boards up all over the city. As CNN reported it:

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Authorities have arrested two men in connection with electronic light boards depicting a middle-finger-waving moon man that triggered repeated bomb scares around Boston on Wednesday and prompted the closure of bridges and a stretch of the Charles River.

Meanwhile, police and prosecutors vented their anger at Turner Broadcasting System Inc., the parent company of CNN, which said the battery-operated light boards were aimed at promoting the late-night Adult Swim cartoon "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."

Well, it turns out that Turner Broadcasting is not so easily intimidated. As reported by Scott Ott, the same fellows have come up with these clever ad gimmicks:

– Renting a 747 painted with the show’s name and flying it past skyscrapers in major cities

– Hiring young men to show up in malls, on buses and other heavily-trafficked areas who would suddenly whip open their coats to reveal a special vest with blinking lights, and begin shouting the theme song of the show.

– “Abducting” strangers, blindfolding them, forcing them to their knees and then broadcasting their videotaped “confessions” that they love the cartoon.

– Hiring young men to suddenly stand up on buses and airliners and loudly declare that the new cartoon is “da bomb.”

– Planting hundreds of improvised advertising devices (IAD) that would suddenly flash, make a loud noise and scatter thousands of promotional fliers all over the road or sidewalk.

– Mounting a “viral” marketing campaign in which dozens of journalists would each receive an envelope containing a white powder along with a note daring the recipient to hold his breath until the debut of the new cartoon.

–Calling the White House, Pentagon, Supreme Court and other famous places and claiming to have planted a “dirty bomb” on the front steps, which turns out to be a paper bag full of dog droppings with the show’s logo stamped on the bag.