05 February 2007

Cartoon Catastrophe

The backfired joke costs (two) millions!

You know the feeling, it was sooo funny in your head, but the audience just stares and some reach for ripe fruit. Cartoon Network’s costly gag bombed in Boston. Or at least New Englanders thought the Lite-Brites emblazoned with mooninites—profane space people from television’s Aqua Team: Hunger Force—were bombs. Roads closed, Bobby’s Boozy Bingo Tourney was canceled, it was chaos!

I know what you’re thinking. I love comics; I love controversy, why didn’t I blog earlier? I was busy.

I blame the generation gap. Baby boomers and anyone over thirty-five probably doesn’t know a subversive cartoon character from a nuclear threat, just like their parents wouldn’t recognize such obscure supporting cast as Huckleberry Hound posing as a hand grenade. The folks at Cartoon Network didn’t consider their entire audience when guerilla marketing. It’s ok guys, I still want that job; I can diffuse this disaster!

Though some may not find this funny, someday they’ll look back and laugh. Unless they’re some of those people with no sense of humor, have you ever met one of those mutants? They’re creepy; I always laugh boisterously in their face then cough and say “oh,” when wide-eyed at their death stare, I realize: “egad! no funny bone!”

Either way, the joke’s on us, America. Internationally, we yet again look silly and scared, or just plain scared stupid. And Cartoon Network pulled off the publicity stunt—didn’t they succeed anyway? Maybe this was their plan all along. Take a joke. Take it all the way to the bank. Though CN’s parent company, Turner was ordered to pay 2 million, time will tell if the deposit outweighs the withdrawal.

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