Grand Theft Miami-Dade: County pitches ‘Vice City’ marketing deal for video game

Grand Theft Auto’s fictional Miami backdrop may make the jump from video game to real life under a marketing deal floated by Miami-Dade County.

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The administration of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has taken several meetings with executives from the company behind “GTA” about briefly transforming county buildings and facilities into homages to the drug-dealing video game’s hometown of Vice City. The talks and county marketing proposal ahead of the release of the sixth version of Grand Theft Auto were first reported Thursday by the Miamian news site.

Players of the original Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game, released in 2002, assumed the role of mobster Tommy Vercetti, who shoots and kills his way through Vice City’s treacherous criminal landscape. Grand Theft Auto 6, which has its own Netflix teaser that was released on Thursday, features new characters and plot lines. It comes out in November.

A proposal that Levine Cava’s office confirmed Miami-Dade had submitted to the company behind GTA, Rockstar Games, lays out how the county could temporarily play the role of a real-life Vice City.

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That includes:

• Having parts of Miami International Airport pretend to be the Vice City airport. The proposal shows an MIA gate screen displaying “Vice City arrivals,” and the pitch described wrapping an actual aircraft in Vice City graphics. The goal: “Create an immersive arrival experience that immediately establishes Miami as the real-world inspiration for Vice City.”
• Transit riders boarding a Vice City train. A Metromover train is shown wrapped in Vice City graphics, and the pitch offers to brand transit stations the same way. “The activation would use the existing downtown skyline and elevated rail system to create a highly visible connection between Miami and the visual identity of GTA VI,” the pitch read.
• Even the sewer system getting in on the Vice City act. Titled the “What Lies Beneath the City” part of the proposal, this pitch would create special manhole covers to honor the videogame. “The designs could incorporate Vice City themes, transforming everyday infrastructure into a public-art feature,” the pitch read.

The proposal, dated July 29, does not mention how much Miami-Dade wants Rockstar Games to pay for a countywide marketing stunt. The talks are being led by Chris Hudtwalcker, Levine Cava’s chief of staff, said Carlos Suarez, a spokesperson for the mayor.

Suarez issued a statement emphasizing that the proposal just reflected potential ideas for Rockstar to consider, but were not definitive offers.

“Nothing has been formally agreed to or approved, and any idea would have to go through the appropriate review and approval process,” Suarez said. “Given Miami-Dade’s clear influence on the game, we think there could be a unique opportunity to generate revenue for the County while showcasing Miami-Dade to a massive audience.”

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