10 Movies Doomed From The Start

Mid-90s to early 2010s Cartoon Network deserves to be heralded as one of the golden ages of animation - an era when artistic individuality being encouraged and rewarded was the norm, rather than the exception. Adult Swim was the gold standard of this, a network where shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force could even happen, let alone air for as many seasons as it has. 

Aqua Teen was so successful that they got to make a movie. And oh boy, the way they advertised that movie had some very fun consequences.

See, because Adult Swim during the 2000s was still staffed and run primarily by gonzo fringe artist weirdos, the advertising company they chose for the Aqua Teen movie was much of the same. Their unorthodox method of advertising the film was placing a bunch of LED devices featuring the character Ignignokt all over various American cities. Without telling anyone. During the hyper-paranoid Bush years.

This marketing stunt was bound to freak out somebody, and while the other cities the campaign took place in mostly ignored it, that sword of Damocles fell on Boston.

While it's easy to clown on the people of Boston, and particularly the Boston police, for overreacting, put yourself in the average Bostonian's shoes. A bunch of weird-ass boxes and placards appear all over the city overnight, for no discernible reason, in an era where everyone has been trained to be paranoid of terrorist attacks on major cities? Cartoon Network really should've seen the freakout, and the ensuing disinterest in seeing the Aqua Teen movie, coming a mile away.