Ad scheme triggers bomb scare in Boston, Somerville

A “guerilla marketing” campaign for a popular adult cartoon thrust Boston into pandemonium today as at least 10 bomb scares turned out to be battery-operated ads strategically place around the city.

Federal, state and local police swarmed around Boston, Somerville and Cambridge as reports poured in of suspcious devices, closing roads, tunnels and bridges for hours.

The chaos touched off a traffic nightmare and prompted a tense press conference from Gov. Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who assured residents the matter was under control. Fears of a possible terrorist act were quelled when it was determined the devices were part of an underground advertising campaign for the Cartoon Network TV show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force

As the morning rush hour was in full force, Route I-93 was shut down Wednesday morning during state police investigation at the Sullivan Square MTBA station. The highway passes over the MBTA station just over the Somerville border in Charlestown. According to Lt. Eric Anderson of the State Police, that device was knocked down with a water cannon, and traffic was not fully open on I-93 until noon.

Authorities said there are 38 devices in Boston and Somerville. In Cambridge, the Longfellow Bridge was alleged to be a target, and was investigated.

“I think Cambridge firefighters were dispatched as a result of media reports,” said Capt. Gerry Mahoney of the Cambridge Fire Department.

Others were not as dismissive. City Councilor Michael Flaherty was fuming and demanded that Turner Broadcasting, the owner of the Cartoon Network, “reimburse the city of Boston for every dime spent today on this serious public safety threat.”

“It’s outrageous, reckless and totally irresponsible,” Flaherty said. “What a waste of resources.”

Todd Vanderlin, a New York City student, was visiting his buddy in Boston Jan. 15 when he spotted one of the illuminated devices on a South Boston bridge. He snapped photos of it and took it down.

“I saw one on a bridge. It was glowing. It’s like a light bright,” Vanderlin told the Herald.

Vanderlin said the device, which broke while he was taking it down, is a light-emitting diode or LED that was manufactured in China. It consists of four double D batteries that connect to a large capacitor and photoresister, a device that illuminated the device at night. “That’s as complex as it gets,” Vanderlin said by phone. “It’s a simple, little, wiring thing. It’s so harmless it’s not even funny. My friend has it hanging in his office.”

The network responsible for the show says the devices are harmless.

 “The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim’s animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger,” said a statement by Turner Broadcasting, which also owns CNN.

A source told the Boston Herald that a memo is being sent out to City Hall employees notifying them that the devices are part of the marketing campaign.

Jessica Heslam, Laura Crimaldi, Dave Wedge, Meghann Ackerman, Erin Smith and Dawn Witlin contributed to this report.