Nevar Fergit! 1-31-07.

A video tribute to the events which occurred on 1-31-07 in Boston, MA involving an Aqua Teen Hunger Force marketing campaign and the chaos that followed. Video by Russ Gooberman, who is now a producer with Boing Boing tv.

• Deconstructing the Great ATHF Freak Out of 2007
• Mooninite on the Haunted Mansion
• Hoaxdevices.com
• Stickers: This is engineering, not bomb-making
• State of Massachusetts insists on calling ATHF ads "hoax devices"
• Boston LED terror scare: a message to the media
• Mark on ABC news about Mooninite devices
• Fake pipe bombs found in Boston
• Video of Mooninite menaces
• Boston Mooninite installer arrested
• Boston Channel photoshops Mooninite LED signs
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the Bomb T-Shirts
• LED ad campaign ignites terrorism scare in Boston

Link to a Google search output that points to dozens more Boing Boing posts around this story in 2007. Good times.

• [Takuan]

  wearable computers are classified how? Electronic clothing?

• [the Other michael]

  @Agent86: are you telling me you can’t tell the difference between your neighbor’s yardsale and a Time/Warner billboard?

  Those laws do specifically allow for public, non-commercial and (for lack of my knowledge of better terms) low-economic-impact signage — yardsales, lost dogs, school bakes-sales, etc. What they do NOT allow is commercial usage — eg, diet-pills, sell-your-home-online, pyramid-marketers, and Time-Warner (eg, Cartoon Network) using public utilities (telephone poles, underpasses, etc) freely for their commerical gain.

  Ah… here’s a better definition at CAUSS (Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam):

  Q: What is Street Spam?

  A: Street Spam is the term for illegal signs along roadways, at intersections, on traffic signs or utility poles, and even on private property. Illegal street signs are also called vertical litter, bandit signs, snipe signs, utility pole advertising and stuff on a stick (SOS). The signs may advertise local businesses, multilevel marketing schemes selling weight loss products, health insurance, sample sales, landscaping services and even pet waste removal services. Some of the most common spam signs have the come-on Work at Home, Work From Home, I Lost 30 Pounds in 30 Days, Have a PC, We Buy Houses, Affordable Health Insurance, Budget Health Plans, and Going Out of Business.

  also, looks like I might be wrong on the “low-economic-impact” thang:

  Q: What About Lost Pet and Garage Sale Signs?

  A: In most locations these are illegal signs. Some cities have zero tolerance and remove these signs. Many sign sharks leave these signs alone, especially if they look non-commercial and relate directly to the immediate neighborhood. Also, these sign typically are only up from Friday through Sunday. The major difference is that these are not commercial enterprises, but simply a neighbor trying to get rid of some junk that another neighbor may need. For these reasons, CAUSS does not promote the removal of these signs. Lost pet signs are in the same category

  Anyway.

  These 1-31-07 twerps were not acting as private citizens or pranksters — they were hired by a corporate marketing firm to do corporate marketing for a large corporation in a large market, NOT your neighbor looking for your neighbor’s lost dog in your neighborhood.

  I’m a big fan of Aqua Teen Hunger Force — but I don’t see why I should have to subsidize its advertising with my tax-dollars.

  —

  hey, dimbulb — great response.

• [the Other michael]

  The digerati just can’t let it go, can they. Yeesh.

  1-31-07 when the guerrilla marketers successfully co-opted everyone — hanging the last DIYer with the guts of the last hipster, Rev. Billy was put up against the wall and shot, and Caffe Americanos were 10% off at Starbucks for all involved. All your sales are belong to us, etc.

  Yes, the Boston PD freaked over something that wasn’t terrorism. I only wish they had freaked out over the commercial co-option of public space.

  A year later, and people are still defending the marketing schmucks? They did no better than installing a root-kit into our visual space, and you’re thanking them for it.

  Bend over, more ads are coming.

• [oneswellfoop]

  Why in the hell did you pick that song. Ruined the vid. Really, made it unbearable and less funny.

• [cha0tic]

  ‘fraid I have to agree with #8. I would’ve just turned the sound down, but wondered if there was any audio commentary on the video. Afraid I had to press stop about half way through.

• [Beryllium]

  Did we ever find out if the scare affected the movie’s box office performance in any way?

• [strathmeyer]

  “Although this was ultimately a drill the [Boston Police Department] would not have responded any differently.” ~ Elaine Driscoll, spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department, http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1070227

• [naggs]

  lulz at 2:04

  bald eagle crying

• [absimiliard]

  I don’t recall hearing anything about that.

  But from the overreaction by the airport police to a student with an LED-wired t-shirt at Logan Airport I believe we can say with certainty that the event doesn’t seem to have affected behavior of the Boston police.

  -abs
  “God I hate my city sometimes, then I realize I could live in Texas, and I’m happy again.”

• [goulash]

  Peter and Sean, the guys who hung the Lite-Brites, are also back and say hello. They sent out an update with what they’re up to after the city of Boston freaked out on them.

• [Agent 86]

  “In most locations these are illegal signs”

  IIRC, Boston being one of the places where street “spam” – as you want to call it – is not illegal (or so the Bostonians I talked to a year ago were saying. I’m sure laws have changed since the multi-million dollar police fiasco)

  (Also, you linked not to a government site, but to a citizen advocacy group. People don’t like the signs, and pull them down. This has What to do with official policy and laws?)

• [anwaya]

  I don’t get it. What does this have to do with haircuts?

• [hoffmanbike]

  i use exit 27 on I-91 all the time, heading towards boston. i just never go all the way to boston.

• [the Other michael]

  Agent86 – no matter we legally slice it, those guys were not the vanguards of a revolution — they were corporate shills.

• [hyperkine]

  The Boston PD just can’t let it go, can they. Yeesh.

• [Moon]

  There’s just something you have to like about Mooninites!

  :D

• [jonathansalembaskin]

  A year later, and the best we can do is wax poetic about how stupid the authorities in boston behaved? I have a different take on it at DIM BULB if you’d like to check it out: http://dimbulb.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/the-led-stunt-w.html

• [Agent 86]

  @The Other Michael

  There were laws in place that allowed for citizens to post signs in public areas. What is the difference between someone posting a yard sale sign, with someone posting an advert for a movie, with someone posting about their garage-band concert? They all seem rather commercial to me, and exactly what the law was designed to allow.

  Besides which… frankly, your statement seemed to contain about as much “us against them” mentality as the average fear-mongering politician. What is wrong with marketing? If you haven’t noticed, perception is about 80% of reality. Take Dr. Pepper, for example. I’ve come to realize it tastes exactly the same as 9 out of 10 of the off brand knock offs. Yet, for some irrational reason I still enjoy the beverage much more when I know I’m imbibing the same brand I’ve been drinking all my life. I’m giving them a little extra money for a little extra enjoyment they’ve made me feel, and we both end up a little better off.

  /annoyance

  PS:Laws that forbid public bulletin boards and lost dog posters (etc) are both annoying from the average joe perspective, and ineffective – I should know, they have them in my city, and it hasn’t stopped darn near every street poll from being plastered.

• [the_boy]

  The something_positive guy has a good take on it, and offers his commentary as