Flipping off the Common Sense

What do outer-space delinquents have to do with the War on Terror? Judging from the recent news, a lot. Just in case you didn't follow these sensational events, here's the scoop. To promote their cartoon show, the "Adult Swim" TV channel contracted an advertisement agency. The agency developed a campaign plan that included placing a few dosen of small lightboards in various locations in and around Boston. Each lightboard would feature a lighted figure of a 'Mooninite', the character featured in the cartoon. The Mooninite, the "delinquent from outer space", would flash his electronic middle-finger at passers-by. It was meant to be a cute little friendly gesture.

I'm not an expert in advertising and I don't know what results were expected from a promotional campaign focused on flipping off the unsuspecting citizens of Boston. What I do know, is that after initial reports of the lightboards' sightings, the law enforcement responded in force, shutting down major transportation routes and various areas of Boston and sending in the bomb squads to detonate the evil Mooninites. I also know that the mayor and other officials expressed their outrage at the "Adult Swim" channel and their parent company, the TBS, for being so irresponsible as to cause such havoc and disruption. The two young men who actually manufactured and planted the Mooninites are now under arrest, awaiting charges.

Despite a mild comic effect this story had on me, I feel profoundly sad. Apparently, in our day and age, all it takes to shut down a major American city is a handful of LED lights and a box of batteries, all together worth about $20. It also appears that each person who was a willing or unwilling participant of this tragicomedy - from the artists who created the cute blinking Mooninite to the chief of the Boston Police - acted at least somewhat reasonably. The electronic artists were reasonably creative if maybe a little controversial with their auto-flipping device. The public was reasonably cicrumspect in alerting the authorities to the presense of unfamiliar objects in public places. The police was reasonably cautious in making no compromises when it came to ensuring the public safety. The bomb squad acted proficiently with their defusing equipment. And yet, the net result was so utterly moronic.