Mars....our new moon or?

Well if you just crawled out from under your rock, let me fill you in on some recent events. A few days ago we had a full lunar eclipse uneventfully (for most). However not for my friend. My friend calls me up all excited because they said they were looking at Mars, big and red in the sky. Yes I said mars. I asked them if they had a telescope out. They said no its huge. After a little while and much laughter (mostly on my part) I found out that a news station had reported that there was going to be an eclipse, and that Mars was going to be very close to us allowing us to see it with the naked eye. So when they were looking at the moon, because the atmosphere was making it look red during the eclipse they thought it was Mars. Although at first they didn't want to believe me when I explained that if Mars was really that big in the sky they should worry. They explain about the news station and I helped them understand that what they news station meant. Because the moon was being eclipsed it would be dark enough to see Mars which is coincidentally quite close to us but not that close. Did you ever think an eclipse would ever be that interesting? Do you think I should have taken their Mars from them? I think helping them not be ignorant and saving them more embarrassment in the future was the best way to be a true friend.