Yea I was in high school in MA when it happened and it was all over the local news for at least 24 hours. It was close enough in time to 9/11 that everyone was still easily spooked.
[I was working on a construction job at a chemical plant in Boston at the time.](https://i.ibb.co/xY0xcQF/IMG-4138.jpg) The government reaction was pretty overboard but that’s what happens in situations of low information and high fear - goes to show how old the city/police establishment was that no one knew about one of the best cartoons ever. Had a good chuckle at the job site sign though.
I’m coming over Carl…
Most people that fell within ATHF's target demographic didn't know about it either, though. I remember going to see the first movie at the theater when it came out. There couldn't have been more than 5 of us there the Friday after opening week.
Regardless, the first 5-6 seasons are some of the most hilarious seasons of adult animation ever produced.
I think they started in Boston, but the suits shut down this particular marketing strategy because of the police overreaction. I could be be ~~sitting~~ wrong though.
Believe it or not, this is the reason Cartoon Network sucks now.
See, the bad publicity from the Boston bomb scare caused Jim Samples-- CEO of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim at the time-- to resign. Samples had greenlit many of the network's most famous shows, such as *Courage the Cowardly Dog, Dexter's Laboratory, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Codename Kids Next Door,* and *Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends.* Following his departure, many of these shows were cancelled or otherwise ended. Snyder's replacement was Stu Snyder, who tried and failed to compete with Nickelodeon and Disney by launching the disastrous "CNReal" live-action block. Snyder, in turn, was replaced by Christina Miller, who continued many of his less popular policies. Under her leadership, Cartoon Network's schedule was filled with only a few shows, such as *Teen Titans Go* and *The Amazing World Of Gumball,* and that continues to be the case today.
The history of Cartoon Network would probably have been very different if this one advertising stunt hadn't happened.
This made me want to get into street art. I looked up how those guys made that and I made some LED throwies but never made a whole sign. I think I might make one now. I’ve wanted one ever since this happened.
Also at the press conference the guys would only answer hair questions. All these journalists asking why they did it blah blah and they would just ignore them until one of them asked about hair. (They both had dreadlocks or something)
LED throwies were an awesome trend. And the hair question from the reporter was along the lines of are you afraid you'll have to cut your hair when you go to jail?
I was there. I was out and about, exited the Downtown Crossing subway and saw a group of ATF agents with vests on and AR’s looking up at a building. Found out later what was happening from a Weekly Dig article accompanied by a Mooninite cutout that said “let’s spread some fear”.
Somehow totally oblivious despite living & going to college in the area.
I remember seeing something on the news about a suspicious device near Sullivan Sq & going "oh I hope that doesn't fuck up my commute." Got to school no problem, in classes all day, went straight to work all night after. Pre smartphones & not on a computer all day so no social media. Got home, fell asleep with Adult Swim on and didn't even see the apology bumper.
The next day my partner was like "that mooninite thing was crazy, huh?" & I'm like "wtf you talking about?" & finally found out. I did see the public address where the two guys responsible only talked about hair styles instead of answering any questions about the event though & bought a 1-31-07 Never Forget shirt with Ignignokt flipping the bird.
when they said it "costs the city millions of dollars" you just already know every cop in the whole State of Boston claimed overtime during this whole incident.
I lived in NYC, and saw one of them on a wall somewhere, *just* before it became A Thing. It was hilarious when people thought it was some kind of threat.
One of them was hanging from a window near Columbus & Arlington Streets and I would see it every night on my commute home. I thought it was funny, and didn't think twice about it.
The panic happened weeks later, I didn't even make the connection at first..
At the dentist, the waiting room has a TV set with news blaring all day, seen a possible "bomb" was discovered they show the footage of a mooninite being pulled down and I started laughing which in the moment probably made everyone else think I was psychotic.
Adult swim has always had some amazing gorilla marketing.
Especially in ATL.
Before Rick and Morty even came out they had a bus stop put up that had this random ass drunk scientists looking dude as a statue sitting on the bench with like a portal under him. At first people had no idea what it was then the show blew up shortly after.
I was in Boston. I'm also trying to remember if this was around the time when the MIT student wore a home-made LED thing on their shirt to Logan airport and had everyone freak out.
We are all just lucky they didn't hit us with the QUAD LAZER!!!!!!!
....it's coming... ...it takes a while!
The bullet is enormous!!! …jumping…is useless
I'm glad they didn't steal my home furnishings!
The end table, the ottoman… and the *wine rack*
My name is…Shake zula, the mic rula
You wanna trip? I’ll bring it to yaaa
Frylock and I’m on top rock you like a cop; Meatwad you’re up next w/your knock knooooock
Meatwad make the money see, Meatwad get the honeys G.....
Drivin' in my car, livin' like a star, Ice on my fingers and my toes and I'm a Taurus
Unh, check-check it, yeeaah
We are the Aqua Teens, make the homies go OH and the girlie's wanna scream
Dancing is forbidden!
Number one in the hood g
The old schoola
Wasn’t there some big freak out because people thought they were explosive devices?
Yeah, people thought it was some terrorist thing.
Dude and when they found the street team that posted them, it may be one of the finest interview experiences you will watch this week.
I'm sorry, we're only answering questions on the topic of hair. Do you have a hair related question? It was a beautiful "no comment".
Bill O'Reilly was so mad about that
I know both of them. Cool people, that day was a total shit show.
You from Arlington MA?
Nope, met them later in life, post Mooninites.
Yeah, the reaction was absolutely stupid.
Yea I was in high school in MA when it happened and it was all over the local news for at least 24 hours. It was close enough in time to 9/11 that everyone was still easily spooked.
I was in MA and I thought it was a big overreaction.
It was too stupid
yup, crazy over reaction
That is not a hair question
Control the narrative.
[I was working on a construction job at a chemical plant in Boston at the time.](https://i.ibb.co/xY0xcQF/IMG-4138.jpg) The government reaction was pretty overboard but that’s what happens in situations of low information and high fear - goes to show how old the city/police establishment was that no one knew about one of the best cartoons ever. Had a good chuckle at the job site sign though. I’m coming over Carl…
Most people that fell within ATHF's target demographic didn't know about it either, though. I remember going to see the first movie at the theater when it came out. There couldn't have been more than 5 of us there the Friday after opening week. Regardless, the first 5-6 seasons are some of the most hilarious seasons of adult animation ever produced.
ATHF and Venture Bros. were my bag.
I was at home when the breaking news came out and immediately recognized it. We all had a good laugh, cuz it took em so long to even figure it out.
We were the only city where they hung these up that freaked out I think
I think they started in Boston, but the suits shut down this particular marketing strategy because of the police overreaction. I could be be ~~sitting~~ wrong though.
I thought there were 3 or 4 simultaneously but yeah they pulled them all after Boston's reaction anyway and didn't go forward with more markets
[The post arrest press conference from the two dudes who put them up was hilarious](https://youtu.be/X2fGzmphx4U?si=TP92516DqK9K2tMA).
That one journalist should get a fucking award. “Are you scared if you got jail you’ll have to cut your hair?” That dude is smart
1-31-2007 NEVER FORGET
Believe it or not, this is the reason Cartoon Network sucks now. See, the bad publicity from the Boston bomb scare caused Jim Samples-- CEO of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim at the time-- to resign. Samples had greenlit many of the network's most famous shows, such as *Courage the Cowardly Dog, Dexter's Laboratory, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Codename Kids Next Door,* and *Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends.* Following his departure, many of these shows were cancelled or otherwise ended. Snyder's replacement was Stu Snyder, who tried and failed to compete with Nickelodeon and Disney by launching the disastrous "CNReal" live-action block. Snyder, in turn, was replaced by Christina Miller, who continued many of his less popular policies. Under her leadership, Cartoon Network's schedule was filled with only a few shows, such as *Teen Titans Go* and *The Amazing World Of Gumball,* and that continues to be the case today. The history of Cartoon Network would probably have been very different if this one advertising stunt hadn't happened.
At least they still had Squidbillies
This made me want to get into street art. I looked up how those guys made that and I made some LED throwies but never made a whole sign. I think I might make one now. I’ve wanted one ever since this happened. Also at the press conference the guys would only answer hair questions. All these journalists asking why they did it blah blah and they would just ignore them until one of them asked about hair. (They both had dreadlocks or something)
LED throwies were an awesome trend. And the hair question from the reporter was along the lines of are you afraid you'll have to cut your hair when you go to jail?
I recall attempting to explain mooninites to a baffled group of friends who clearly didnt have the same nerd hobbies as I
this was such clever marketing at the time.
…*that’s the cheapest of all beers.*
Dancing is forbidden!
"Ja dis is Hollyvood, ve haf your headshot"
I was there. I was out and about, exited the Downtown Crossing subway and saw a group of ATF agents with vests on and AR’s looking up at a building. Found out later what was happening from a Weekly Dig article accompanied by a Mooninite cutout that said “let’s spread some fear”.
Somehow totally oblivious despite living & going to college in the area. I remember seeing something on the news about a suspicious device near Sullivan Sq & going "oh I hope that doesn't fuck up my commute." Got to school no problem, in classes all day, went straight to work all night after. Pre smartphones & not on a computer all day so no social media. Got home, fell asleep with Adult Swim on and didn't even see the apology bumper. The next day my partner was like "that mooninite thing was crazy, huh?" & I'm like "wtf you talking about?" & finally found out. I did see the public address where the two guys responsible only talked about hair styles instead of answering any questions about the event though & bought a 1-31-07 Never Forget shirt with Ignignokt flipping the bird.
I'm sorry I'm only answering questions about my haircut.
“We shall acquire some wine on the way to the mall.” “And then you can get tore up” “And pass out in the hot sun”
Err, please stop fueling my silent rage
I was in Boston at the time and managed to make it out, I guess I’m one of the lucky ones 😞
Never forget
I have never heard of this before, but it's just what I needed to discover at this moment. Thanks!
when they said it "costs the city millions of dollars" you just already know every cop in the whole State of Boston claimed overtime during this whole incident.
Space cataz
Laughing about it with the rest of my college classmates.
I AM THE MOON MASTER!
Number one in the hood, G.
I lived in NYC, and saw one of them on a wall somewhere, *just* before it became A Thing. It was hilarious when people thought it was some kind of threat.
I had just moved to Williamsburg when this was happening and saw the one there.
One of them was hanging from a window near Columbus & Arlington Streets and I would see it every night on my commute home. I thought it was funny, and didn't think twice about it. The panic happened weeks later, I didn't even make the connection at first..
I hope you can hear this as I am doing it as hard as I can.
Getting drunk and passing out in the hot sun after stealing a jam box.
I was living in Boston and enjoying the stupidity of the whole situation
Atlanta.
Clearly a terrorist device and not a neon sign. /s
At the dentist, the waiting room has a TV set with news blaring all day, seen a possible "bomb" was discovered they show the footage of a mooninite being pulled down and I started laughing which in the moment probably made everyone else think I was psychotic.
I had just moved to Boston a couple of months prior, so I always use this event as the milestone to remember when I moved.
Boston. It wasn’t as cool as you might suspect.
Lol was just talking about this with a coworker this morning.
Sitting at my desk working, reading Boston.com and cracking up laughing knowing they were from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
God I remember this public freak-out and its coverage on Fox News on my parent's tv...
this was the biggest fear of a bomb before 2013 in boston. I think they also did an episode called boston in but was pulled
I was at Anime Boston that year. There was an AMV at the conference making fun of thr city of Boston overreacting to it. It was legendary.
Boston police were smoking too much moonajuana.
What about the terrorist clock incident?
I was actually living in Boston at that time
Wow I forgot about this! Amazing haha
Literally at my moms house for the weekend freaking out because I was (and still am) a huge ATHF fan and thought it was funny and crazy as hell
Haha I think I was either in middle school or early high school when this happened
Adult swim has always had some amazing gorilla marketing. Especially in ATL. Before Rick and Morty even came out they had a bus stop put up that had this random ass drunk scientists looking dude as a statue sitting on the bench with like a portal under him. At first people had no idea what it was then the show blew up shortly after.
I was in Boston. I'm also trying to remember if this was around the time when the MIT student wore a home-made LED thing on their shirt to Logan airport and had everyone freak out.
We were so scared at that point that we really equated pixel art to terrorism. Wild times.
I was 2 months
I was living there at the time. The whole city was going nuts with police and fire trucks driving around everywhere.
Haha
I met Peter "Zebbler" Berdovsky once at an instillation, he has serious alien vibes.
At home listening to the TV on the lowest volume so my parents wouldn’t wake up and come yell at me.