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Turner Agrees to Pay Boston Back

Turner Broadcasting has agreed to pay for the costs incurred by the city of Boston during its response to the broadcast company’s unfortunate marketing-campaign-turned-bomb-scare.

The amount Turner agreed to pay may be near $1 million, though neither Turner nor the Boston Mayor’s office would confirm that figure, writes Broadcasting & Cable.

The promo, carried out by Interference Inc., saw 38 devices planted throughout the city, consisting of blinking lights wired to a circuit board that projected an animated cartoon image.

When the devices were seen as potentially dangerous, highways, bridges and river traffic were halted as bomb squads investigated.

Mayor Thomas Menino estimated publicly that the costs of the stunt in Boston alone could mount to more than $500,000, while local transit system costs and the cities of Cambridge and Somerville could reach another $500,000, according to the AP.

Turner took out full-page ads in local papers today apologizing for the scare.