matthew’s alibi

So, the city of Boston was brought to its knees yesterday morning by a couple of lite-brites. Boston University was shut down, maritime traffic halted, and the bomb squads called.

Yup, that’s pretty much the state of the war on terrorism.

Two men, acting on behalf of a guerrilla advertising firm to publicise Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force, installed a series of lightboard pictures of the series’ Mooninite characters in Boston. Because the signs had wires and batteries, some folks flipped out and thought maybe they were bombs, hence the emergency response. (One of the offenders has been captured and is being ransomed on eBay.)

The lighted signs had been in place for two to three weeks, and were also in New York City; Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco and Philadelphia, all of which seemed to successfully handle the incursion without resorting to bomb squads, men in black, etc.

Meanwhile, sometimes you just wish the authorities would shut up for their own good. From CNN:

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis called the stunt “unconscionable,” while Boston Mayor Thomas Menino called it “outrageous” and the product of “corporate greed.” Democratic Rep. Ed Markey, a Boston-area congressman, added, “It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt.”

Gosh guys, it’s sure lucky you’ve been saving up all your righteous indignation for the big stuff.

The accused - two men without criminal records, who seem like a lot more fun than the police commissioner - gave a press conference:

…Stevens and Berdovsky took the podium and said they were taking questions only about haircuts in the 1970s.

When a reporter accused them of not taking the situation seriously, Stevens responded, “We’re taking it very seriously.” Asked another question about the case, Stevens reiterated they were answering questions only about hair and accused the reporter of not taking him and Berdovsky seriously.

Reporters did not relent and as they continued, Berdovsky disregarded their queries, saying, “That’s not a hair question. I’m sorry.”

If the officials had any sense, rather than prosecuting, they would hire Stevens and Berdovsky as “hipster consultants,” since clearly they don’t have anyone on staff who has ever seen Adult Swim.

…and then, of course, the inevitable t-shirts. (Favorite: “I survived the Mooninite attack.”)

Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick says it’s “not funny,” but come on. A major American city shut down by cartoon characters? A half a million dollars spent on an emergency response to a guerrilla marketing campaign? It’s pretty funny, in that rather-laugh-than-cry way.