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2007 Boston Mooninite panic (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 1 day ago by nocturne@slrpnk.net to c/wikipedia@lemmy.world

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

On the morning of January 31, 2007, the Boston Police Department and the Boston Fire Department mistakenly identified battery-powered LED placards depicting the Mooninites, characters from the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force, as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), leading to a massive panic. Placed throughout Boston, Massachusetts, and the surrounding cities of Cambridge and Somerville by Peter "Zebbler" Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, these devices were part of a nationwide guerrilla marketing advertising campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters.

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[–] human@slrpnk.net 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The article males a big deal about officials not being able to identify the mooninites, but I'm much more concerned that they weren't able to identify an explosive device.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 5 points 1 day ago

The fact that they didn't look at it and see a cartoon character is the best part! They literally didn't have anyone around them who were competent enough to see this and think 'hey, that looks like a cartoon character, maybe we should look into that instead of starting a panic'.

[–] nocturne@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Edit: replied to the wrong comment, in the wrong thread, in the wrong community.