|
The 2007 Boston Mooninite panic occurred on Wednesday, January 31, 2007, after both the Boston Police Department and the Boston Fire Department mistakenly identified battery-powered LED placards resembling two "Mooninite" characters from the Adult Swim animated television series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' as improvised explosive devices. Placed throughout Boston, Massachusetts, and the surrounding cities of Cambridge and Somerville, these devices were part of a guerrilla marketing advertising campaign for ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'', a film based on the animated television series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim.〔 The incident led to controversy and criticism from a number of media sources, including ''The Boston Globe'', ''Los Angeles Times'', Fox News, ''The San Francisco Chronicle'', ''New York Times'', CNN, and ''The Boston Herald'', some of which ridiculed the city's response to the devices as disproportionate and indicative of a generation gap between city officials and the younger residents of Boston at whom the ads were targeted. Several sources noted that the hundreds of officers in the Boston police department or city emergency planning office on scene were unable to identify the figure depicted for several hours until a younger staffer at Mayor Thomas Menino's office saw the media coverage and recognized the figures as cartoon characters from the TV show. After the devices were removed, the Boston Police Department stated in their defense that the ad devices shared "some characteristics with improvised explosive devices," which they said included an "identifiable power source, a circuit board with exposed wiring, and electrical tape." Investigators were not mollified by the discovery that the devices were not explosive in nature, stating they still intended to determine "if this event was a hoax or something else entirely." Although city prosecutors eventually concluded there was no ill intent involved in the placing of the ads, the city continues to refer to the event as a "bomb hoax" (implying intent) rather than a "bomb scare." Reflecting back on the incident years later, academics and media sources characterized the reaction to the marketing campaign as a form of social panic.〔〔 Author Gregory Bergman wrote in his 2008 book ''BizzWords'' that the devices were basically a self-made form of the children's toy Lite-Brite.〔 Computer security expert Bruce Schneier wrote in his 2009 book ''Schneier on Security'' that Boston officials were "ridiculed" for their overreaction to the incident.〔 In his 2009 book ''Secret Agents'', historian and communication professor Jeremy Packer discussed a phenomenon in culture called the "panic discourse" and described the incident as a "spectacular instance of this panic".〔 In a 2012 article ''The Boston Phoenix'' called the incident the "Great Mooninite Panic of 2007".〔 A 2013 publication by ''WGBH News'' wrote that the majority of Boston youth thought that arresting Zebbler and Stevens was not warranted.〔 == Planning == In November 2006, Boston area artist Zebbler (aka Peter Berdovsky) met John (aka VJ Aiwaz) in New York City. John worked for a marketing organization named Interference, Inc., and asked Berdovsky if he would be interested in working on a promotional project. Berdovsky agreed and enlisted the help of Sean Stevens for the project. Interference shipped Berdovsky 40 electronic signs. Adrienne Yee of Interference e-mailed him a list of suggested locations and a list of things not to do. According to police, the suggested locations for the devices included "train stations, overpasses, hip/trendy areas and high traffic/high visibility areas." The signs were to be put up discreetly overnight. They were to be paid $300 each for their assistance. Berdovsky, Stevens, and Dana Seaver put up 20 magnetic lights in the middle of January. They dubbed the activity "Boston Mission 1." While Stevens and Berdovsky put up the lights, Seaver recorded the activity on video and sent a copy to Interference. On the night of January 29, 2007, in what was called "Boston Mission 2," 18 more magnetic lights were put in place. This included one under Interstate 93 at Sullivan Square in Charlestown. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2007 Boston Mooninite panic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|