A marketing firm working for CDPR in Brazil was fined $75,000 by the city of Sao Paulo for panting a full-length Cyberpunk 2077 mural on a building.
According to the Brazilian gaming magazine START, marketing and production company NaLata hired by CDPR rented a windowless building just off a major highway to paint a full-length mural of Cyberpunk 2077 to promote the game. While the plan sounded simple and harmless, the city court of Sao Paulo ruled the mural as illegitimate and ordered the company to remove it. In addition, the court also ordered NaLata to pay a fine equivalent to USD $75,000 for violating Sao Paulo’s advertising laws.
As per START, the city has a “Clean City” ordinance, which outlaws the use of all outdoor advertisements, including on billboards, posters, murals, and transit in front of stores. The law is in place since 2006 and works to ensure the unique character of the city isn’t hidden under massive signs and pervasive advertising.
According to START, NaLata wasn’t informed of the illegality of the mural and believed it to be allowed as the city’s official Twitter handle complimented the company by post a picture of the mural, in a now-deleted tweet. Further to add to the confusion, NaLata had previously painted a similarly stylized mural for another game, Free Fire, which was allowed by the city to stay up. However, when the Cyberpunk 2077 mural was brought before the city court it was ruled as an advertisement and direct violation of the city’s “Clean City” ordinance.
The fallout from the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 is only getting bigger by the day. With the Polish government now keeping an eye on the company and multiple lawsuits already in place, CDPR won’t be having a good time for the majority of 2021.
