NEAR’s Weird Marketing ‘Hack’ Riffed on Infamous 1987 Chicago TV Hijacking

What
really
makes
Max
memorable
today,
and
notable
for
the
purposes
of
NEAR’s
rather
cringey
gambit,
is
the
broadcast
that
wasn’t
supposed
to
be:
the
Max
Headroom
incident.
In
1987,
an
unknown
signal
pirate
hijacked
a
“Dr.
Who”
broadcast
in
Chicago
and
went
on
a
90-second
nonsensical
ramble,
all
while
wearing
a
Max
Headroom
mask.