Cartoon Network Chief Quits Over Terrorist Scare

The head of the Cartoon Network has resigned over the marketing stunt that turned into a terrorist scare -- and a public relations fiasco. Jim Samples, General Manager of the network, wrote in an internal memo to colleagues, "I deeply regret the negative publicity and expense caused to our company as a result of this campaign."
Cartoon Network signs.
The network had to pay $2 million in fines to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, and to the city of Boston. The light-board signs, placed to advertise a show in its Adult Swim block of programming, caused major traffic snarls and other disruptions when residents mistook them for explosive devices.

Reader Comments

(Page 5 of 5) Previous 15 Comments

61. I just have to say that this, yes Boston reacted harshly but I can say that if my city didnt respond to something like that I would be upset but I still cant see that someone would have to step down because of it. If it would have happened here we would have laughed about it aswell but it is best someone checks it out. I cant for the life of me figure out why it took two or three weks for them to even check it out. and I read something about boxcutters.......... come on! If Boston would have taken their security seriously in the first place the boxcutters wouldnt have made it on the planes in the first place! You cant wait til something does happen then become total freaks! Point is, our government fucks with our heads,money,freedoms, etc. are we going to let that keep us from enjoying the little things in life and make companies pay millions for flawed ads? congrats Bostons for fucking up he mans life and congrats to the US government for scaring Boston, and the rest of the US, so bad that ad campains are taken as bomb threats! You fucking cowards! There are men and women losing their lives over what they beleive in and what they beleive in isnt a cowardous,half scared, mind fucked nation! I have said enough......I am going back to my bottle of booze!

Posted at 11:14PM on Feb 11th 2007 by Jay

62. The Mayor of Boston has a mysterious box in his house. It's gray. It has wires coming out of it. It was placed there by underpaid immigrants with a deep grudge against the ruling class. So has the Chief Police, the SWAT team, and the bomb squad, too. Call MIT brainboys.

Posted at 11:47PM on Feb 19th 2007 by sim

63. i think everything has happened as it should, cops have done their jobs, advertisers were doing theirs, and the terrorists are doing theirs, everything is OK folks! 100 years ago or 100 years from now it is all the same, so relax and have a good time.

Posted at 10:28PM on Feb 10th 2007 by nick

64. The basic principle behind advertisement is to deliberately engineer a campaign to garner attention, influence thinking, and elicit a response.
Would it be reasonable then to infer that the basic goal of Interference, Inc.'s marketing campaign was to provoke the Boston public's reaction?

Why is everybody so shocked over the result?


Posted at 10:28AM on Feb 11th 2007 by B.B. Wolffe

65. The Celtics are the joke of the NBA, the Bruins are the joke of the NHL (Eastern Conference only), and now the government of Boston is one big joke. Coincidence? Mayor Menino is no more effective of running this sorry city than Doc Rivers is running his sorry basketball team...

Posted at 12:24PM on Feb 11th 2007 by The Pump

66. What kind of stupid society do we live in where you can't even post a funny little light show on a poll? Post 911 my ass. People are just always looking for some sort of litigation. We're becoming a society of cry babies. Boo hoo i'm scared... Whatever!

Posted at 9:56AM on Feb 12th 2007 by FED THE HELL UP

67. Through the whole situation I just kept thinking. "What would Jack Bauer do?"

Posted at 4:35PM on Feb 13th 2007 by Murray

68. QUESTION TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO THINK WE OVER REACTED... WHEN FLORIDA FINDS THESE BLACK LUNCH BOXES ON THE FLOOR ARE THEY OVER REACTING BY SENDING IN THE BOMB SQUAD OR WHEN AT ONE POINT PEOPLE WERE FINDING ENVELOPES FILLED WITH POWDER??? WERE THEY OVER REACTING??? WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I GIVE A FUCK ABOUT SOME STUPID GUY THAT GOT MONEY I DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT HIM... SO WHAT HE HAD TO QUIT OH WELL I DON'T CARE THAT'S LIFE... ITS NOT LIKE HE'S LEAVING WITH ZERO IN HIS ACCOUNT...
THAT'S NOT MY PROBLEM.

I DON'T KNOW WHO SAID WE WERE SCARED PLEASE NEVER THAT.. WHAT I FIND FUNNY, ONE GUY WROTE WE HERE IN LA FIND IT FUNNY WE JUST IGNORE THINGS LIKE THAT ITS ART OR WHATEVER (WHERE EVER IT WAS). REALLY CUZ I DON'T.. GOD SAKES WERE AT WAR.... I DON'T THINK WE OVER DID ANYTHING WE DID WHAT ANYBODY ELSE WOULD DO...U PEOPLE TALK MAD SHIT OH WERE NOT SCARED WE LAUGH AND FIND THINGS FUNNY.... IF WE IGNORE THINGS AND FIND IT FUNNY THESE TERRORISTS ARE GOING TO DO THE SAME THING. . .OH LET US DO A LITTLE CARTOON TOO AMERICANS THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT ELECTRONIC FUNNY SIGNS WITH LIGHTS THEY FIND IT CUTE AND IGNORE THEM... YEAH I WOULD FEEL SAFE WERE YOU LIVE... WHY DID THEY HAVE TO PUT IT ON BRIDGES AND TRAIN STATIONS... THAT'S NOT FUNNY... SO THE NEXT TIME WE SEE A CUTE LITTLE SIGN ON A BRIDGE AND A TRAIN STATION WERE HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PASS THROUGH WE IGNORE IT!!!

REALLY HOW MANY PEOPLE SEE THIS STUPID CARTOON.... THAT YOUR DEFENDING IT SO MUCH.....

NUMBER 21 AND 43 IM WITH YOU....

Posted at 4:16PM on Feb 13th 2007 by MARISOL

69. I think that the city of Boston made a fool of themselves by causing panic to their own city instead of checking it out first before sending out a city alarm.. now they want to blame someone at the network. The whole thing of marketing is to create something new and different....Boston sucks.......

Posted at 10:51PM on Feb 16th 2007 by jty

70. "How many people watch this show"

Oh, only about 500,000 depending the night, enough people to warrant making a movie that has these "promo" items to get attention to it. "I've never heard of it, clearly no one else has, I'm gonna go watch CSI cause I'm a fucking pawn, I vote republican" fuck you marisol you are an idiot

Posted at 8:42AM on Mar 6th 2007 by Not as dumb as you

Previous 15 Comments