Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

The Moonenites as terrorists?

hm.

This whole scheme seems like a silly ad campaign, but ultimately it only shows how on edge the police and DHS are these days. perhaps a little too much so, if only by a tiny margin. Still, no major civil liberties are apparently being infringed, so I'm basically on the side of "better safe than sorry" on this one. Though I hope the kid doesn't go to jail or anything for essentially doing his job. Doesn't seem like it ought to be his fault that his employer and their client made a poor choice.

Sure, sue the marketing firm and Turner and get the half mil or so of restitution, but charging the kid as a criminal is kind of insane, really.

All that being said, my main beef is with the use of the term "hoax" here. It's a completely -- and probably willfully -- incorrect way to describe this situation. A hoax involves purposeful deception; in this case the implication is that the devices were intended to be seen as bombs, or, minimally, as some kind of real threat. Obviously no one intended for these to be seen that way... it's so far from the truth that it's offensive. Call it what it is: a somewhat ill-advised marketing campaign which was misinterpreted -- though not so unreasonably -- by the public and the authorities.

Boston Devices a Cartoon Publicity Ploy | ajc.com