Set in a fictionalized Miami, “Grand Theft Auto VI” is scheduled for release in November.
Approaching levels of government entertainment seen on shows like “Parks and Rec.” and “Veep,” Miami Beach commissioners Thursday debated (and approved) a marketing agreement with the makers of Grand Theft Auto VI that officials say could be worth up to $4 million for the city.
In anticipation of the Nov. 19 release of the latest Grand Theft Auto (GTA), Rockstar Games’ hired marketing firm sealed a deal with Miami Beach for a “discreet” marketing campaign that will bring the iconic logos to umbrellas and chairs along the city’s beaches, commissioners said at the Thursday meeting. The move will likely anger many, including Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, who blasted the county for mulling a similar decision last week, according to Axios. The sheriff didn’t respond to calls or emails requesting comment.
After a lengthy debate, commissioners Thursday voted 4-3 in favor of the agreement, with commissioners Tanya Bhatt, Laura Dominguez, Joseph Magazine, and Monica Matteo-Salinas voting yes. Mayor Steven Meiner and Commissioners Alex Fernandez and Davis Suarez, the project’s most ardent opponent, voted no.
“It’s an adult video game where players steal cars, deal drugs, commit robberies, murder civilians, and assassinate police officers. That’s their right. They can make it. They can sell it. They can advertise it. But that doesn’t mean the city of Miami Beach has to help,” Suarez said at the meeting.
“We ask our police officers to risk their lives every day protecting this community. We spend enormous resources fighting drugs, violent crime, and the sort. We’ve spent over a million dollars over the past three years on a spring break marketing campaign, trying to move Miami Beach away from an image of chaos and lawlessness. Now we’re going to take our beaches, one of the most recognizable symbols of the city, and make it a space for Grand Theft Auto? What kind of message are we sending to the world?”
He then showed a clip showing GTA gameplay: bloody shootouts with police officers and unarmed people, drug dealing, torture, and more graphic scenes. Suarez argued the game could do well enough marketing on its own and that Miami Beach doesn’t need to “sell its soul” to market the game.
“We almost never allow commercial advertising on our beaches, and now we’re making an exception for a multibillion-dollar franchise while roughly half the money goes to a private concessionaire,” he wrote. “Our beaches aren’t billboards. Once we decide they’re for sale to corporate advertisers if the check is big enough, where does it stop? I don’t want one of Miami Beach’s greatest public assets polluted with advertising.
“GTA has a valuable brand. So does Miami Beach. They don’t need us, but they clearly see the value in us. We should see that same value in ourselves.”
Commissioner Matteo-Salinas at the meeting argued the city’s approval of a marketing campaign (and up to $4 million from Rockstar) is a far cry from an endorsement of the in-game behaviors depicted.
The agreement allows Rockstar’s hired hands at Amplify Marketing to “install signage and other promotional materials on beachfront concession equipment, and on other city-owned property as designated by the city manager,” according to the agreement (attached below).
GTA:Miami Beach marketing resolutionDownload
“We’re not giving away pistols and cocaine to people,” Matteo-Salinas said at the meeting. “What this is about is people who play GTA, gamers, game aficionados, gamer nerds such as myself. I play GTA; I played it in 1997 when it first came out. And I’m going to play it again when it comes out, and I’m not going to go out on a crime spree.
“It’s a video game, and it’s fake. We can be who we are and make a nod to this video game without endorsing it. This actually won’t affect our brand. This is a win for gamers and gaming nerds.”
Other commissioners shared Matteo-Salinas’ sentiments, saying they don’t have to support the in-game violence to see the city has an opportunity here. Commissioner Magazine argued the city could either look the other way and take no part in marketing itself, which the game will do either way with its South Florida setting, or the city could take part in that narrative by voting for the agreement.
After some back and forth, Suarez appeared to be in disbelief.
“I feel like I’m in a ‘Black Mirror’ episode; why are we ok with this?” he asked at the meeting.
Suarez went on to say, “I know the chief has said it’s not a big deal but if you have a video game of shooting down police officers in cold blood — I think that’s the wrong image for Miami Beach.”
Loading latest posts…
Loading trending posts…
