Cartoon Network chief quits over Boston scare

Cartoon Network general manager and executive VP Jim Samples has resigned after a guerilla marketing campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force sparked a bizarre terror alert in Boston.

The marketing firm hired by Cartoon Network to promote the show, which airs as part of the Adult Swim block of late-night programming, placed battery-powered light devices featuring a Mooninite character at various key locations in Boston and other major US cities including New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. The devices had been in place for quite some time before suspicions over the devices caused multiple security alerts on January 31 (full details here).

Bridges and sections of the Charles River were shut down and it is understood that US Northern Command was monitoring the situation from Colorado Springs.

Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley attributed the alert to the devices having a "very sinister appearance" and "wires".

Cartoon Network has already agreed to pay $2m in reparations to the city and has issued numerous on-air and written apologies.

"I deeply regret the negative publicity and expense caused to our company as a result of this campaign," said Samples. 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 had worked at Turner Broadcasting, Cartoon Network's parent company, for 13 years.