Mediacology

Klaxoncow’s comment posted on the above YouTube video:

You’re clearly not a bomb expert.

Just to clue you in: Bombs are traditionally not covered in LEDs which trace out the shape of a cartoon moon person giving you the middle finger.

Generally, as terrorists don’t want their bomb plots foiled, they tend not to decorate their bombs in bright lights advertising their presence and then leave them lying around for weeks.

And…

Advertising Age:

It was also a great study in the use of persuasive language. Boston authorities were quick to call the event “a terrorist hoax”‘ while others called it a “prank.” In our own industry we struggled with what to call this. It was referred to as a “viral campaign” by some. PRWeek referred to it as a “publicity stunt.” BrandWeek called it a “marketing stunt.” The Hollywood Reporter referred to them as “ad lights.” Bruce Schneir, a security expert and writer on contemporary security issues summed up the incident as a “‘Non-Terrorist’ Embarrassment in Boston.”

Meanwhile, a New York Magazine cover story subhead declares: “Understanding the Greatest Generation Gap Since Rock and Roll“

Writing about the ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ fiasco in Boston, the above commentary comes from an AdAge column by Noelle Weaver. I think she hits upon the importance of language to frame an event or situation, but also how crucial cultural perspective is in determining whether someone gets a joke or not. This has been my biggest concern regarding homeland security practices. It’s one thing to do a data sweep of any pattern, name or key word, it’s a whole other thing to get its context. In terms of perception, environment is everything. No doubt that in a climate of fear anything can be interpreted as an enemy attack. This is why propaganda depends more on context than actual content. Unfortunately, when everything that is anomalous is identified as an act of terrorism, in a diverse society the entire population is threatened with criminalization. And when marketers are accused of terror plots, how do you think artists are going to be treated?

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