re: The word “Hoax”
From the Digg:
Next, let’s all get out our dictionary and look up “hoax”, shall we? Because while “War of the Worlds” was a hoax, this was not. There was no subterfuge involved, and no effort made to convince people that these devices were bombs. If I see a scary looking tree out my bedroom window, think it’s a monster, and then discover upon closer inspection that it isn’t, it doesn’t mean the tree has perpetrated a hoax against me. What it means is that for a moment I took leave of my senses. And just because I’m embarrassed about it doesn’t give me the right to go cut down the tree.
Thanks for the tip, Xeni!
It is a hoax if the calls made to officials identifying devices were part of the “marketing effort”, which, as I understand is under investigation. It is a hoax if the marketers asked participants to keep quiet about the devices, thereby furthering the impact on the city. If the marketers were aware that their device caused the problems in the morning at Sullivan Sq. and withheld information about the numerous other devices, then I think you have “subterfuge”.
Also… If the marketing campaign was conducted by people who were under water the whole time, then I think you would have to call them “wet”. If they did it while being helped by the tooth fairy, you would have to call it “fairy assisted”. If they were forced to do it by Santa Claus, it would have to be called “Claus induced.”