EDITORIAL: A crummy commercial

When Mastercard created a television commercial using footage of Neil Armstrong swinging a golf club after landing on the Earth’s lunar body, the company had a tasteful and successful advertisement using a moon in night.

Turner Broadcasting Company had a little more trouble when incorporating a “Mooninite” into its marketing campaign.

Turner was clearly trying to launch a unique promotion with the characters for Adult Swim’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” by putting nine magnetic light displays throughout Boston and neighboring suburbs. And in an age when Americans can fast forward through commercials, the broadcasting corporation cannot be faulted for trying to be creative.

But what were top executives thinking when they developed this marketing plan?

Turner would not be laughing if a real tragedy transpired as the attentions of law enforcement agencies were diverted while tracking down cartoon characters across the city.

People, especially Bostonians, will probably always remember Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” because of yesterday’s bomb scare, but it came at a cost to the company. Turner will likely be sued for its actions, and its good name will be tarnished.

The city, too, bore a large burden. To deal with what, at one point, looked like a terrorist plot, the city had to expend almost all its resources — the Boston Fire Department; the Boston Police Department; the Boston Regional Intelligence Center; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Emergency Medical Services; the FBI; the Massachusetts State Police; and the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

The nine other cities where Turner placed these magnetic lights will also waste time and money searching for them. These city’s police chiefs have to treat the boxes they find as a serious threat. Assuming they are harmless and not following safety protocols would only cause destruction and backlash if the packages actually contained hazardous materials, even though it is unlikely.

And why did it take Turner so long to come out with a statement? The company said the packages had been there for two to three weeks. By waiting, it seems like part of the ad campaign was to stir up mass panic. Strategically putting the black boxes on structures like bridges and road networks — to increase visibility — doesn’t help Turner’s case that these magnetic lights were not implanted to foster chaos.

In a post-Sept. 11 world, fear is easy to instill in U.S. citizens — especially when nine unidentified objects are discovered in one city and appear to be related by a cynical character. Our tendencies are to expect the worst because we have seen the worst happen.

Because of this, the BPD was completely justified to take extreme precautions when approaching the dark packages. It seems silly that men and women in uniform tip-toed toward magnetic lights, but it was the right move considering they didn’t know all the facts.

City officials should have offered more information when early details emerged though. They held a late press conference at 4:30 p.m. after keeping the public and officers in suspense for almost eight hours. The first package was discovered at 9:30 in the morning. The next four were found sometime in the early afternoon. People had reason to be worried from their morning cup of coffee until their afternoon commute — that’s inexcusable.

The media will do everything it can to over-hype any situation. It is up to the government to quell this fear-mongering.

Statements like, “There is no indication this [was] a terrorist act,” from Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis are helpful, but they came much too late. The words were also too vague to effectively make citizens feel secure, especially when portions of the city were being shut down.

In the week before the Super Bowl, Americans are anticipating great advertisements, but Turner went too far to grab our attention. At least we can be thankful that the nation was closer to being in hysterics Wednesday night than it was to sobbing

hysterically.