WARNER BROTHERS - CARTOON CAUSES BOSTON SCARE

CARTOON CAUSES BOSTON SCARE

Boston residents were subjected to one of the biggest scares since 9/11 yesterday, all because of a cartoon.

A marketing campaign for late night cartoon on US broadcaster Turner Broadcasting caused the panic, after eleven portable billboards containing electronic lights were placed in spots around the city.

The billboards were mistaken as bombs by the police causing the shut down of bridges, train lines and major roads throughout the city, and the deployment of additional police forces to battle the scare.

A bomb squad was deployed to deal with the situation and one of the billboards was blown up to ensure it did not pose a threat.

"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose and danger," said Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc, who later advised police of all the locations of its advertisements. It said in a statement that the "packages" were actually magnetic lights and were no danger.

The company also told media that the marketing campaign had been in place for two to three weeks in ten cities, including Boston, around the US.

However, the company's apologies may not be enough for authorities in the city of Boston. The city's police commissioner has already advised media that the incident took up a considerable amount of the city's resources.

There has been much speculation that the city may take action against Turner Broadcasting and its advertising agency to recover the cost.

It has also bee reported that the man employed to place the suspicious packages around the city has been arrested on charges of placing hoax devices.