Greetings from the Youth and Popular Culture (YPC) desk, which as of yesterday has merged with the Homeland Security (HS) desk here at Language Log Plaza. (That's YPC-HS now, for those keeping score at home.) The merger was occasioned by the flap reported here (and various other places) concerning an unfortunate ad campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force (#1 in the 'hood, G) in 10 cities around the country. In Boston, where the ad campaign had reportedly been in place for three weeks, "[o]fficials found a slew of blinking electronic signs adorning bridges and other high-profile spots across the city Wednesday, prompting the closing of a highway and part of the Charles River and the deployment of bomb squads." Turner Broadcasting, the parent company of the Cartoon Network on which ATHF airs, had this to say:
"We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger," said Phil Kent, chairman of Turner, a division of Time Warner Inc.
Language Log readers will recognize this as a non-apology. (If you need us to jog your memory, see here, here, and here.)
More from the AP wire:
The 38 signs were part of a promotion for the Cartoon Network TV show ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force,'' a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball. The network's parent is Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc. [...]
The 1-foot tall signs, which were lit up at night, resembled a circuit board, with protruding wires and batteries. Most depicted a boxy, cartoon character giving passersby the finger -- a more obvious sight when darkness fell.
That description can only mean one thing: the Mooninites have landed!
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Posted by Eric Bakovic at February 1, 2007 12:14 PM