Explosive News

Paramount Pictures has teamed up with The Los Angeles Times to help advertise the pending release of Mission: Impossible III with 4,500 randomly selected news boxes in Los Angeles and Ventura counties have been outfitted with small devices that, when the news box is opened, will play the Mission: Impossible theme song. But having this newspaper self destruct in fifteen seconds was not the intention of the advertising campaign. Apparently, one of these small digital song boxes shook loose, and fell on top of the stack of yet to be purchased newspapers causing one would be purchaser to alert authorities to the possibly booby trapped box. Upon inspection, the county arson squad wasted no time destroying the rack because it contained an unidentifiable object constructed of a small box with wires attached to it. John O'Loughlin, the Times' senior vice president for planning, said "This was the least intended outcome. We weren't expecting anything like this." Was this an honest mistake, or a brilliant advertising stunt? Everyone knows that people will come in droves to see something blowup.