Overreact, much?

Earlier I posted about the city of Boston's reaction to a Cartoon Network (parent company Turner Broadcasting) advertising campaign (see Trouble in Boston). Battery-operated advertising signs--think Lite-Brite toys--caused havok and gridlock in Boston as authorities "defused" these potential bombs.

I found it humorous that these signs had been posted at various locations in several metropolitan cities, including Boston, for a couple weeks before Boston, and only Boston, went nuclear over the signs. Boston authorities, instead of admitting their overreaction, arrested and charged the two Bostonians who placed the signs and began talking about starting litigation against Turner Broadcasting to recoup costs to the city.

Anywhoo, Turner Broadcasting, which in I'm sure was a purely public relations decision rather than the belief they'd lose in court, is going to pay Boston two million dollars. Fine and dandy. But what brought this particular post was this article:

Jim Samples, the general manager and executive vice president of the network, wrote: "I deeply regret the negative publicity and expense caused to our company as a result of this campaign. 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."--CNN

According to the article Samples been with the Cartoon Network for 13 years. On the one hand I guess someone needs to take responsibility for what happened. On the other hand, I think the ones most responsible for the fiasco in Boston are the Boston authorities.