Who are the terrorists?

For anyone living in Boston, yesterday was filled with bomb scare updates, bridge and T-station closings, major traffic jams and atypical police activity. At the end of the 8 hours of post-911 routine, we learned that the “bombs” applied to the bases of bridges and in major traffic areas were actually part of an outdoor marketing campaign for a show on Comedy Central.

In a statement from Turner Broadcasting, the network said, “We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger.”

Are you kidding? I mean, really, are you kidding? You are placing packages with visible wires and lights to major city structures at a time of war but it doesn’t occur to you that this could pose a public safety hazard?

Have we completely lost it in the viral marketing arena? Do the people involved with this hoax think it a success since we now all know about the animated show on CC (I refuse to type it here)? At what point do we put the good of our people above the good of press?

The ethical lines that we as advertisers and marketers keep redrawing and crossing is reaching a point where it will be difficult to step back. It keeps occurring to me that we are our own terrorists.