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Cartoon Network head resigns after Boston bomb scares
(AP Photo/Turner Broadcasting, Edward M. Pio Roda)
Jim Samples, Cartoon Network executive vice president and general manager, resigned today after a marketing stunt caused a terrorism scare Jan. 31 in Boston.
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
The general manager of the Cartoon Network resigned today as the fallout continues to grow from a botched guerilla marketing campaign that sparked a series of bomb scares last week in Boston.
Jim Samples told colleagues today in an e-mail provided to the Globe that he deeply regretted "the negative publicity" spawned by the blinking cartoon characters meant to publicize the animated show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" and saw no other choice but to leave the network after 13 years.
"As general manager of Cartoon Network, I feel compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch," Samples, 44, wrote in the e-mail provided by O'Neill and Associates, a Boston public relations firm. "It's my hope that my decision allows us to put this chapter behind us."
Almost 40 of the flashing lights were placed on bridges, underpasses, and other pieces of infrastructure throughout metropolitan Boston. In daylight, people mistook the black boxes for possible bombs when they saw wires and circuit boards.
Law enforcement spent much of the day scrambling across the region responding to bomb scares. Several bridges, a section of Interstate 93, and a portion of the Charles River were closed during the mayhem.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he took today's news as evidence that Turner Broadcasting was taking "full responsibility" for a stunt that nearly brought his city to a standstill on Jan. 31.
"I am pleased to know they have taken the incident seriously and action has been taken against the people who authorized it,” Menino said in a statement. "The resignation of their top Cartoon Network executive should serve as a message to all that these types of marketing tactics will not and should not be tolerated."
Cartoon Network's parent company -- Turner Broadcasting System -- and Interference, Inc., the New York City marketing company hired to carry out the campaign, agreed earlier this week to pay $2 million in restitution to law enforcement.
Mark Lazarus, the president of Turner Entertainment Group, will lead Cartoon Network in the interim. Lazarus praised Samples' time at the network.
"He has our respect, appreciation and sincere best wishes," Lazarus wrote in an e-mail to the staff also provided by O'Neill and Associates. "He has been a valued friend and mentor to people throughout the company and around the world."
Attorney General Martha Coakley, the lead negotiator in the restitution settlement, has said she is also negotiating to settle criminal cases against Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, who were hired by Interference to place 38 electronic signs in the Boston region.
