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Downtown San Diego is covered in vibrant advertisements for Comic-Con International — despite them being unlawful.
San Diego has waged a long-running battle against outdoor advertising since the 1970s, which is why the city’s freeways aren’t covered in billboards. When it comes to Comic-Con, city policy is mostly a slap on the wrist.
City inspectors can fine hotels and businesses up to $10,000 a day, but such high sanctions are rare. It is more common for the city to give out warnings or a $1,000-per-day citation. It issued $19,000 in citations last year.
Most Comic-Con attendees, including those San Diegans downtown taking in the sights without a badge, tend to enjoy the splashy displays on hotels and other buildings. Business leaders and economists have questioned why the city even issues fines. Yet it’s just one of those peculiar local laws on the books that no one seems overly motivated to change.
Crews have been hard at work since last week getting nearly 30 wraps on buildings and other structures before Comic-Con’s first day, preview night on Wednesday. Most displays stay through Sunday, the event’s final day.
On Tuesday morning, crews were hard at work putting finishing touches on displays plastered all over the Gaslamp Quarter — even the celebrated archway at the end of Fifth Avenue.
An advertisement for the upcoming Marvel film, “Avengers: Doomsday,” was in the process of covering the Gaslamp Quarter sign with a green and black stained glass-looking advert. Even the sign’s pillars were covered in a gray plaster to look like a Roman column, seemingly something from the film. Last year, a promotion for the animated film “Bad Guys 2” was on the sign but didn’t cover it.
Walking around the sea of advertisements in the Gaslamp on Tuesday was Jordan Alexander, his wife, Kai, and 3-year-old son Jayden. They were visiting from Las Vegas and mostly unaware of Comic-Con but were caught up in the excitement.
“I like to see how everyone goes all out,” Alexander said of the advertisements.
Last year, the biggest fines went to the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, which featured AMC’s franchise of vampire shows based on the Anne Rice books, and Pendry Hotel San Diego, which advertised AMC’s zombie franchise, “The Walking Dead.” Both were fined $3,000. This year, they are wrapped again — they just swapped franchises.
Not all of the building wraps are illegal. The Port of San Diego allows building wraps on land it controls west of Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway.
The main building wrapper, New York-based KAP Media, doesn’t disclose its rates, but it says the cost can exceed $100,000. Most wraps are attached with an adhesive vinyl, but different materials can be used depending on the building.
KAP Media CEO Lori Brabant said they have 24 wraps this year, and many are repeat customers, such as Amazon Prime, AMC and ABC. There are a few new companies this year: Sony PlayStation, Jazwares and Funko.
Here is a look at some of this year’s building wraps:
‘The Vampire Lestat’
Location: The Pendry
Address: 550 J St.
AMC’s franchise of shows based on Anne Rice books covers this hotel for the latest season of “Interview with the Vampire,” titled “The Vampire Lestat.” The show covered the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter last year.
Marvel’s Wolverine
Location: The Omni San Diego Hotel
Address: 675 L St.
The upcoming PlayStation video game Marvel’s Wolverine grabs the most visible advertisement for convention goers, right next to the Gaslamp Quarter trolley station.
‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Yaga’
Location: Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter
Address: 401 K St.
AMC’s long-running vampire show “The Walking Dead” takes over this downtown hotel, as does a new show from Canadian streamer Crave. “Yaga” will star Hudson Williams and Carrie Ann Moss and is described as a supernatural mystery.
‘Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender’
Location: Park 12
Address: 100 Park Plaza
The latest film in the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” franchise covers downtown San Diego’s biggest apartment building.
‘Avengers: Doomsday’
Location: Gaslamp Quarter sign
Address: Corner of Fifth Avenue and L Street
The biggest Marvel film in years doesn’t open until December, but Disney is clearly going all out for Comic-Con, including a Hall H panel on Saturday. The sign was covering the Gaslamp Quarter sign on Tuesday, but it was unclear if it would stay up the entire convention.
‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’
Location: Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina
Address: 333 W. Harbor Drive
Paramount+ show “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” is in its final season and gets the Marriott Marquis treatment.
‘The Rings of Power’
Location: The side of Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter
Address: 401 K St.
Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings” show is heading into its third season and a large print of villain Sauron stares menacingly at visitors to the Gaslamp.
‘Spaceballs: The New One’
Location: Houston TX Hot Chicken building
Address: 238 Fifth Ave.
The sequel to the 1987 “Star Wars” spoof, “Spaceballs,” has an advertisement featuring troopers combing the desert (a gag from the first film).
‘American Horror Story’
Location: Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Address: 1 Park Blvd.
The latest season of “American Horror Story” will cover the bayfront hotel and be visible to boats.
Funko
Location: The Omni San Diego Hotel
Address: 675 L St.
Toymaker Funko covers the ground level of the Omni Hotel with characters from “Star Wars,” “Avengers” and “Toy Story.”
‘Wildwood’
Location: Hard Rock Hotel San Diego
Address: 207 Fifth Ave.
An upcoming animated film called “Wildwood” was being promoted by turning the entrance of the hotel (still in process Tuesday morning) into a magical forest.
‘Abbott Elementary’ and ‘The Rookie’
Location: Petco Park
Address: 100 Park Blvd.
Two long-running sitcoms from ABC will cover Petco Park while the San Diego Padres are off playing in Atlanta and Miami. The ballpark was also gearing up for a lot of foot traffic for another reason: an Ed Sheeran concert Tuesday night.
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