Terror on the Streets

infobox television
show_name = Terror on the Streets


caption = "Terror on the Streets" episode title screen
format = Comedy television
runtime = 1-3 min.
creator = HornBlasters, Inc.
first_aired = June 15, 2005
num_episodes = 12
num_movies = 1
num_specials = 2
website = http://www.hornblasters.com/video.php

"Terror on the Streets" is an online web series, originally published on [http://hornblasters.com HornBlasters.com] in June of 2005, featuring various air horn and public address pranks. In the series, unsuspecting pedestrians are caught being startled with train horns, gentlemen's club patrons are taunted, and even police officers are caught off guard. This web series reached its peak popularity in the Summer of 2006 and helped promote public interest in air horn upgrades for vehicles.

History

Background

In May 2005, interest in custom air horn installations was booming. While auto manufacturers were equipping cars with less powerful horns, the latest customization fad of high powered air horns was rapidly gaining popularity. Most older cars were equipped with robust multi-tone air horns, but in modern production automobiles these were being replaced by smaller single tone electric horns. In Florida, the home state of HornBlasters, Inc., actual railway-use air horns were being installed on vehicles. These custom air horns are so loud that people standing near the horn can feel the blast of air as its honked.cite web|last=Higgins|first=Michelle|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB111525470647725357.html?mod=googlewsj|title=Big Honkin' Horns Hit the Highway - WSJ.com|accessdate=2008-05-20, Wall Street Journal reports on the growing popularity of train horn modifications on May 5th, 2005.]

Beginning

In June 2005, Terror On The Streets was first published to [http://hornblasters.com HornBlasters.com] . The first episodes consisted entirely of stealth assaults given by automobile drivers with customized air horn installations. The car featured was a Ford Crown Victoria outfitted with a low tone train horn and a high pitched horn known as the PsychoBlaster. These episodes quickly become viral videos and drove tremendous traffic to HornBlasters.cite web|last=Lake|first=Thomas|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/10/State/Sowing__Terror_on_the.shtml|title=Showing 'Terror On The Streets'|accessdate=2008-06-04, The St. Pete Times published this as a front-page article on December 10th, 2007.]

Growing popularity

The unanticipated popularity of the series drove HornBlasters to create another, more powerful, train horn car. The [http://www.hornblasters.com/terror_on_the_streets_mercury_marauder "Terror on the Streets" Marauder] was created. A Mercury Marauder was chosen for the project. This new car was outfitted with three full-size, railway-use, train horns, multiple higher pitch PsychoBlaster horns and a complete FHP Police outfit.

With this new car in hand the series took a slightly more daring direction. The team started collecting footage using their police grade public address system to mock pedestrians and bring a more personal feel to the seriescite web|title=Terror On The Streets Mercury Marauder Profile|url=http://www.hornblasters.com/terror_on_the_streets_mercury_marauder, Terror On The Streets Mercury Marauder Profile at HornBlasters.com] .

The series also started showing more controversial clips. In the fifth episode (the second with the new car) a police officer is shown being honked at while inches away from one of the horns.cite video|title= [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8243293369792570200 Terror On The Streets Episode 5] |medium=Web-Series|location=Jacksonville, Florida|year2=2005, A police officer is caught off guard after pulling over the team.] Throughout the remaining episodes gentlemen's club patrons, police officers, and even the homeless were scared by these outrageous horns.

Controversy

In May 2007 this viral web series caught some major attention from local authorities. The local police department (Tampa Police Department) commented that the horns are potentially a dangerous distraction. TPD spokeswoman Laura McElroy stated that the horns could result in someone being confused to the point of stepping out into traffic. The local news channel Fox 13 Tampa Bay televised a story titled "Innocent Fun or Public Nuisance?" portraying the horns as offensive and cruel.cite web|url=http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3168607&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1|title=Innocent Fun Or Public Nuisance?|accessdate=2008-06-06, Fox 13 Tampa Bay aired a report on the use of air horns on May 10th 2007]

Later that year in December, the St. Pete Times published a front-page news article titled "Showing Terror On The Streets". This news article portrayed Terror On The Streets as much more than just innocent fun. The newspaper reported the series as using terror as a marketing tool. Ironically, after publishing the article the St. Pete Times received a lot of negative feedback from its readers for promoting the videos indirectly.cite web|last=Castor|first=T|url=http://www.itsyourtimes.com/?q=node/3412|title=Irresponsible story on 'HornBlasters'|accessdate=2008-06-27, The Tampa Bay Times chastises The St. Pete Times for its article about HornBlasters.]

References