Mooninites pen mea culpa to Bostonians

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By Stone Martindale Feb 3, 2007, 19:01 GMT

Mooninites fans note, the Massachusetts attorney general said late yesterday her office was close to a deal in which Time Warner would cover costs incurred this week by the city of Boston when panic erupted over a bunch of Mooninite boards that dotted the city. Sean Stevens, 28 (L), and Peter Berdovsky, 27, are photographed during an arraignment inside Charlestown District Court in Boston, February 1, 2007. REUTERS/George Rizer/The Boston Globe

Sean Stevens, 28 (L), and Peter Berdovsky, 27, are photographed during an arraignment inside Charlestown District Court in Boston, February 1, 2007. REUTERS/George Rizer/The Boston Globe"At this time, we believe we are close to reaching finality in a resolution of this matter," Attorney General Martha Coakley said yesterday in a statement.
Coakley has an eye towards "resolution to the criminal charges" -- with the attorneys of the two goofs the marketing firm hired to place the Mooninite lite boards."Performance artists" Sean Stevens and Peter Berdovsky were charged with putting up around town about 38 "hoax devices" the Mooninite characters from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim series "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." The two guys mugged for cameras and in a scene from any Kevin Smith movie laughed off charges, only discussing various hairstyles.Turner Broadcasting division of Time Warner ran full-page ads in Boston papers the Globe and Herald yesterday in which its CEO Phil Kent apologized to the frosted Bostonians:"To the Citizens of Boston:Let me start with what is most important -- an apology, for the confusion and inconvenience caused in your community on Wednesday by an unconventional marketing tactic. We never intended this outcome and certainly did not set out to perpetrate a hoax. What we did is inadvertently cause a great American city to deal with the unintended impact of this marketing campaign. For this, we are deeply sorry ." The New York-based guerrilla marketing firm posted this statement on its Web site:"We at Interference, Inc. regret that our efforts on behalf of our client contributed to the disruption in Boston . . . and certainly apologize to anyone who endured any hardship as a result. Nothing undertaken by our firm was in any way intended to cause anxiety, fear or discomfort to anyone."The Washington Post reports the natty dreaded "performance artist" Berdovsky allegedly sent an email exchange to friends on Wednesday when the panic was underway, claiming his employers at Interference had asked him to "pretty pretty please keep everything on the dl [down low]" rather than let the cops know what was up with the boards.Turner finally verified the panic was over its lite boards with the Mooninite characters flipping the bird, and state they immediately contacted the FBI in Atlanta at around 3:45 p.m.

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Paul JonesFeb 3rd, 2007 - 22:28:10

Boston's state bird: Chicken
Boston's state motto: Who turned out the lights! Turn them back on...please.
Boston's new state motto: Brite Lite is scary

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beantownerFeb 4th, 2007 - 14:51:16

boston is not a state

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StephenFeb 4th, 2007 - 18:03:31

Hey, Boston, is your refrigerator running?

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TomFeb 4th, 2007 - 18:19:59

Hey! Boston! It's a lite brite!! Run Away!

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Concerned US CitizenFeb 4th, 2007 - 18:35:18

Is it not often we see incompetence showcased so perfectly than when we watch Boston authorities dig their own grave with each press release concerning these signs. How totally sad :( I am sure most citizens of Boston are not so paranoid. Despite the fact Turner agreed to pay the costs, Boston and Mass. continue to look foolish. To Boston residents - The very fact your elected representatives asked for reimbursement for their own overreactions is all the rest of the country needs to constantly laugh at you. Keep running your mouth Mayor Menino and Attorney General Martha Coakley. We are listening...

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GaryFeb 4th, 2007 - 19:13:07

The incident in Boston was just cluelessness run amuck. Putting aside the fact that Aqua Teen Hunger Force just generally sucks, Fox News initially described the Mooninite character as 'Sponge Bob Square Pants' while you would think that a college town such as Boston would have enough geeks staying up late at night to know what was up with the lightboards. After all, no other city went into panic mode over this. And authorities, much like Eugene Levy's characters on the old SCTV series, get madder and more incoherent as the days roll by because they don't want to admit that they went beserk over a cartoon while the the country laughs at them.

I just wonder how authorities in Boston will react the next time they see a neon beer company sign in a bar window. Call DHS!

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CalibanFeb 4th, 2007 - 19:28:18

Boston has no sense of humor! The terrorists win, as President Bush was fond of saying. The Boston police dept. might need some retraining in bomb and threat recognition. Yes, Boston is a laughingstock and they should be ashamed of themselves for pursuing a roughly million dollar settlement with Turner.

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