19 Years Ago, An Adult Swim Favorite Caused Panic (And Resulted in a $2 Million Fine)

February 1, 2026, 12:00pm

19 years ago, Adult Swim ended up surprisingly causing a public panic that resulted in being hit with a $2 million USD fine for a promotional stunt gone wrong. Adult Swim has been a steady part of the Cartoon Network library for 24 years, and has changed things a great deal for the world of adult animation. It introduced itself with the kind of attitude and aesthetic that made it immediately stand out from the Cartoon Network side, and felt like it was something you really weren’t supposed to be watching at your age.

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Adult Swim’s rebel energy was particularly strong in the first decade of its run with Cartoon Network, and the promotional side of things really pushed the envelope when it came to get their advertisements out there. That was especially the case on January 31, 2007, when Aqua Teen Hunger Force‘s Mooninites became associated with a bomb scare in Boston that would result in a major fine from the city. In hindsight, this might have been the best push for Aqua Teen Hunger Force possible.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force and the 20007 Boston Mooninite Panic

Aqua Teen Hunger Force was one of the first original animated series that Adult Swim ever produced, and in 2007, the series was gearing up to hit theaters with its very own feature film, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters. As part of a quick marketing campaign for the film, marketing firm Interference Inc. worked together with Boston artist Peter Berdovsky to set up LED signs depicting the Mooninites giving the middle finger across multiple locations in Boston. The signs were put up without any prior clearance or permission, and ended up sparking a major panic from the public.

Across a couple of nights, nearly 40 LED signs were put up around spots in Boston before being noticed by the public. This soon got the attention of the authorities, and the sight of one of the LED signs drew in a huge crowd of police and fire officials along with various news outlets. The bomb squad was called in when it seemed like the lights had been set up with the parts that would make for a make shift bomb, and the investigation went on for many hours before the police would quantify it as some sort of publicity stunt.

This would draw a huge response from multiple media outlets as they weighed in on the situation, fans as they reacted to Aqua Teen Hunger Force‘s role in it all, and much more. It’s the kind of stunt that you would never see happen today, and something that really could have happened back then. In fact, it was later revealed that Turner Broadcasting and Interference Inc. had to pay legal fees to resolve any of the legal or civil matters from the incident.

2007 Boston Mooninite Incident Fallout for Adult Swim

The fallout of this incident was huge too. Turner Broadcasting and Interference Inc. were ordered to pay one million to the Boston Police Department and one million to the Department of Homeland Security, and Cartoon Network’s then vice president had resigned in the wake of the scare (though they never faced criminal charges). Those involved with putting up the signs were charged with a hoax to cause panic, and other cities planned for the promotion made sure to cap off any signs being put up in their locations.

Looking back on it now, it truly was a wild idea that sounds nothing like what could be done today. LED signs had been noted in other cities like Los Angeles even before the panic in Boston, but it’s just an entirely different kind of world now. It was such a major situation that Adult Swim never really attempted this kind of secret marketing campaign in the years since. What also helped that is how advertising shifted more online anyway, and thus Adult Swim was able to change it strategies from then on.

This isn’t the only marketing stunt from Adult Swim’s history that cause a big uproar in the real world (with Rick and Morty’s Szechuan Sauce coming to mind), but there’s no doubt that this was the most significant incident in their history. It’s hilarious looking back on it now because it was Aqua Teen Hunger Force that ultimately caused all of this, and the image of the Mooninite itself was inherently a ridiculous one spread across news stations at the time.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force is one of the longest running franchises with Adult Swim after all this time, and incidents like this only helped with its staying power among fans. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!