02/01/2007

By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER  / Associated Press

It takes a lot to turn heads in the more laid-back parts of Portland, and electronic devices planted to promote a television series just didn't cut it.

Portlanders have reported finding at least three of the devices that caused a minor panic in Boston, but reacted with a yawn, if that.

They were found in some of the trendier neighborhoods and were not near bridges or other infrastructure. They were removed by Thursday.

In Boston, they were found on some bridges, triggering a security alert.

The devices were meant to publicize a Cartoon Network TV show, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," and the network said it called authorities as soon as it realized they were causing concern.

Portland Police Bureau spokesman Brian Schmautz said he had not seen any of the devices nor had he heard from anyone who had. It was unknown how many were placed.

John Doussard, a spokesman for Mayor Tom Potter, said the first that office knew of the devices was from a phone call from a reporter Wednesday afternoon.

"We've had no calls from Portlanders," he said. "We hadn't heard "Boo.' "

Jo Baltz, a bookkeeper for Portland's World Cup Coffee and Tea, had one sitting on a filing cabinet Thursday and called "him" cute.

"I don't know if we are just being naive, or the panic just hasn't hit here yet. I don't think 'bomb' ever hit our minds, we all just watched him and laughed at him," she said.

She said she found it about three weeks ago, its magnets stuck to the door of the company's distribution garage in northwest Portland.

"We kind of all thought it was really cool, because it was lit in blues and greens," Baltz said.

She said it caused no alarm in the neighborhood where a younger crowd hangs out and "guerrilla art" is common.

Officials found 38 blinking electronic signs promoting the show on bridges and other high-profile spots across Boston on Wednesday, prompting the closing of a highway and the deployment of bomb squads. Two men were arrested.

The surreal show the devices promote is about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

The devices have shown up in 10 cities but apparently caused a stir only in Boston.

The chairman of Turner Broadcasting, Phil Kent, apologized for the marketing campaign that the network says was "mistaken for a public danger" in Boston.

Turner says the signs had been in place for two to three weeks to promote the cultish TV show.

But Boston Mayor Tom Menino says it cost the city at least $500,000 to respond to the case and that he would do what he could to recover it.

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AP staffer Typh Tucker contributed to this report.