After Turner Broadcasting’s “guerilla marketing” debacle in Boston, MA yesterday I have to wonder if that type of marketing will now become taboo. There are lots of companies out there that offer nothing but guerilla marketing and I just find myself wondering the consequences of yesterday’s failed guerilla marketing campaign. I know some in the the marketing sector will consider yesterday’s stunt a success—look at all the publicity the ‘Aqua Teens Hunger Force’ show received. However, in the minds of most American’s ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ is now synonymous with terrorism and “bomb scares.” Just look at the headline from the article I link to above: “‘Aqua Teen’ character cause terrorism scare Suspicious packages planted in backfired TV marketing ploy in Boston; may have been planted in Chicago, too.” Notice the word “terrorism?” Not something you want your brand associated with these days. Then there’s this—many American’s have now heard the term “guerilla marketing” for the first time and it was associated with terrorism and “bomb scares.” Not a good way to promote your industry to the masses. One last obvious point to make—don’t market something that could be considered a bomb in a city where the most prolific and horrific terrorist plot to hit American soil originated from. Duh!

Another thing to consider is this from CNN: Peter Berdovsky, 27, a freelance video artist from Arlington, Massachusetts, and Sean Stevens, 28, were facing charges of placing a hoax device in a way that results in panic, as well as one count of disorderly conduct, said Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. The hoax charge is a felony, she said. Both men were arrested Wednesday evening. I can tell you right now, both these men signed waivers saying if any criminal charges come from what they are doing, the company who hired them are not responsible. So you’ve got two guys who wanted to make some easy money now facing felony charges.

So where does that leave the future of guerilla marketing? It will be interesting to see the repercussions, if any, that come from this. The debate has been raging for some time now about advertising and whether it’s going too far. I believe after the events that unfolded yesterday, many would say it has, especially when you have hundreds of police officers chasing down your marketing effort instead of doing what they should—eating donuts.