Boston Strangled by the Cartoon Network

This may go down in marketing history right next to "New Coke":

BOSTON -- Turner Broadcasting plans to take responsibility for the "hoax devices" that were found at several locations in and around Boston Wednesday that forced police bomb units to scramble throughout the area.

The incidents were part of a marketing campaign that involved a character from the cartoon show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."...

Gov. Deval Patrick praised the response of law enforcement and said that he was "dismayed to learn that many of the devices are a part of a marketing campaign by Turner Broadcasting."

"This stunt has caused considerable disruption and anxiety in our community. I understand that Turner Broadcasting has purported to apologize for this. I intend nonetheless to consult with the attorney general and other advisors about what recourse we may have," Patrick said.

"Emergency deployment teams were sent into the center of the city immediately upon these reports. There were significant shutdowns of not only highways, but rail traffic with the MBTA," Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said. "Several of the devices do have common characteristics, but it is too early to say how many are connected."

The first device was found under Interstate 93, and the state police bomb squad was called and detonated the package in Sullivan Square just before 10 a.m. Officials said it contained an electronic circuit board with some components that were "consistent with an improvised explosive device," but they said it had no explosives.

Several hours later, Boston police said the department received four calls, all at about 1 p.m., reporting the devices. Officials responded to at least nine locations, including the Boston University Bridge, the Longfellow Bridge, the McGrath O'Brien Highway in Somerville, a comic store on Harvard Avenue in Brighton, a location near the intersection of Stuart and Columbus streets, a location near Washington and Water streets and under the McCarthy Overpass in Somerville, according to Davis.

A device described by officials as a pipe bomb was found in the basement of the Tufts New England Medical Center at 185 Harrison Ave.

Davis said that residents should not be afraid to enter or leave the city and that additional police resources have been deployed to help ensure people that they are safe.

"It's a hoax, and it's not funny," Patrick said. "I think we fell at this point, that there is not a reason for anyone to panic, but there are reasons to be diligent."

Turner must have bought this marketing campaign from ACME, because it blew up in their face just as surely as all those bombs, rockets, and other Roadrunner catching devices previously purchased by Wile E. Coyote.