Lawyers for the two men charged in the Boston marketing scheme that created a bomb scare and paralyzed the city are still negotiating a possible plea deal.
“Discussions are still ongoing with the Attorney General’s office toward a resolution of the case,” Jeffrey Pyle, a lawyer for Peter Berdovsky, one of two men charged in the case, said Friday.
Berdovsky and Stevens, 28, pleaded not guilty to placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct after they planted electronic devices in Boston that police later mistook for bombs. The two appeared last Friday in Charlestown District Court.
Their next court date is May 11.
Berdovsky and Stevens were hired to place light boards in Boston in January as part of guerrilla advertising campaign for Turner Broadcasting System to promote Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force TV show. The battery-powered devices, which had wires protruding from them, featured a character from the series raising its middle finger.
The devices, some of which were placed on bridge supports and near a subway station, alarmed residents and triggered calls to Boston police. In response, law enforcement officials called in the bomb squad and shut down bridges and highways, snarling traffic for hours.
As a result, Turner Broadcasting System, and Interference Inc., the New York agency hired to execute the campaign, paid $2 million in restitution to local governments and law enforcement agencies and apologized.
Jim Samples, Cartoon Network’s former general manager, resigned nine days after the incident (PROMO Xtra, Feb. 12, 2007).
And Boston city officials plan to hold workshops on guerrilla marketing to help resolve problems with the tactic
(PROMO Xtra, March 7, 2007).
Cartoon Network reps placed the light boards in nine other cities, but none reported any problems, other than Boston. Berdovsky and Stevens were paid $300 each to erect the light board for the campaign, according to news reports.
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