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Illegal Comic-Con building wraps are back in San Diego
Last year’s fines of $22.5K were not big enough to dissuade downtown San Diego hotel operators from putting up more in 2025
UPDATED: July 22, 2025 at 8:33 AM PDT
You wouldn’t know it strolling around downtown this week, but Comic-Con advertisements that wrap hotels, apartment buildings and offices are still unlawful.
The fines are small enough that advertisers clearly think it is worth it, with about 30 buildings in the process of being wrapped Monday morning. The city 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.
Crews were hard at work putting up advertisements Monday for everything from “The Walking Dead” shows to a massive display for the new “Demon Slayer” movie. All are expected to be completed by Comic-Con International’s first full day on Thursday.
The main building wrapper, New York-based KAP Media, will have 22 installations this year, down slightly from 25 last year. Other companies are handling the other handful of wraps.
“These wallscapes have become synonymous with (Comic-Con),” said KAP founder Lori Brabant, “with super fans clamoring to guess which brands will be showing up even before we start our installs.”
Building wraps tend to be very popular with event attendees and some locals who come to experience the Comic-Con craziness in the Gaslamp Quarter. The fines were set up by the city as a compromise with neighborhood groups that have complained that building wraps are a blight on downtown.
Last year, the city issued 27 administrative citations totaling $22,500 in fines. Companies that do the wraps are tight-lipped about everything going up, but it appears there will be about 30 installations, the same as last year. So, fees are once again not enough to outweigh the revenue building owners get.
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.
Movie and TV studios, and video game developers, won’t just be competing for eyeballs on buildings, but on the San Diego Trolley. The light-rail sold out of available spaces this year, with 45 train cars covered in advertisements for Nintendo games, Hulu shows and Amazon’s Prime network.
KAP Media plays it coy when talking about costs, but it has said in past years that building wraps can cost more than $100,000. Trolley wraps cost about $16,000 per car for the installation, with additional advertising fees tacked on.
Here is a look at some of this year’s building wraps:
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle
Location: The Omni San Diego Hotel
Address: 675 L St.
Popular anime “Demon Slayer” takes over the Omni Hotel this year (a space usually reserved for Fox Animation) in the biggest advertisement of them all. The installation wraps around the building with additional character images closer to street level for its upcoming “Infinity Castle” film. The film makes history as the first anime film to take over Comic-Con’s biggest room, the 6,500-seat Hall H, on Saturday. It also has an wrap on a trolley car.
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 third season and preparing for a fourth.
Gen V
Location: Houston TX Hot Chicken building
Address: 238 Fifth Ave.
A spin-off of Prime’s popular “The Boys” show, “Gen V” is set to debut a second season in September.
The Walking Dead
Location: The Pendry
Address: 550 J St.
AMC’s successful zombie franchise “The Walking Dead” covers the Pendry hotel with several of its projects: The “Daryl Dixon” show as the primary focus, with other shows “The Ones who Live” and “Dead City” at street level.
Starz
Location: Hard Rock Hotel San Diego
Address: 207 Fifth Ave.
The Starz network will use the Hard Rock Hotel to advertise several shows, including “Spartacus: House of Ashur” and “Outlander: Blood of My Blood.”
Hulu
Location: Petco Park
Address: 100 Park Blvd.
Two ABC shows that air on Hulu cover Petco Park this year, “The Rookie” and “Abbott Elementary.”
Alien: Earth
Location: Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Address: 1 Park Blvd.
The “Alien” franchise dips its toes into television with this new FX series.
The Vampire Lestat
Location: Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter
Address: 401 K St.
AMC’s franchise of shows based on Anne Rice books cover this hotel for “Interview with the Vampire” (the upcoming season adapts the novel, “The Vampire Lestat”) and “Talamasca.”
Fantastic 4: First Steps
Location: Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter
Address: 401 K St.
This advertisement, facing the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade, serves as a double promotion for the latest Marvel Studios movie and the Google Play store, which features several Marvel games.
Dexter: Resurrection
Location: Park 12
Address: 100 Park Plaza
San Diego’s biggest apartment complex, Park 12, serves as an advertisement for the latest “Dexter” show.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger
Location: Hilton San Diego Bayfront parking garage
Address: 1 Park Blvd.
Several video games cover the Hilton San Diego Bayfront’s parking garage, including “Digimon Story,” “Little Nightmares III” and “Code Vein II.”
Originally Published: July 22, 2025 at 6:00 AM PDT
just copy-pasting this article exposed me to unhealthy levels of advertising.
Illegal Comic-Con building wraps are back in San Diego
Last year’s fines of $22.5K were not big enough to dissuade downtown San Diego hotel operators from putting up more in 2025
UPDATED: July 22, 2025 at 8:33 AM PDT
You wouldn’t know it strolling around downtown this week, but Comic-Con advertisements that wrap hotels, apartment buildings and offices are still unlawful.
The fines are small enough that advertisers clearly think it is worth it, with about 30 buildings in the process of being wrapped Monday morning. The city 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.
Crews were hard at work putting up advertisements Monday for everything from “The Walking Dead” shows to a massive display for the new “Demon Slayer” movie. All are expected to be completed by Comic-Con International’s first full day on Thursday.
The main building wrapper, New York-based KAP Media, will have 22 installations this year, down slightly from 25 last year. Other companies are handling the other handful of wraps.
“These wallscapes have become synonymous with (Comic-Con),” said KAP founder Lori Brabant, “with super fans clamoring to guess which brands will be showing up even before we start our installs.”
Building wraps tend to be very popular with event attendees and some locals who come to experience the Comic-Con craziness in the Gaslamp Quarter. The fines were set up by the city as a compromise with neighborhood groups that have complained that building wraps are a blight on downtown.
Last year, the city issued 27 administrative citations totaling $22,500 in fines. Companies that do the wraps are tight-lipped about everything going up, but it appears there will be about 30 installations, the same as last year. So, fees are once again not enough to outweigh the revenue building owners get.
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.
Movie and TV studios, and video game developers, won’t just be competing for eyeballs on buildings, but on the San Diego Trolley. The light-rail sold out of available spaces this year, with 45 train cars covered in advertisements for Nintendo games, Hulu shows and Amazon’s Prime network.
KAP Media plays it coy when talking about costs, but it has said in past years that building wraps can cost more than $100,000. Trolley wraps cost about $16,000 per car for the installation, with additional advertising fees tacked on.
Here is a look at some of this year’s building wraps:
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle
Location: The Omni San Diego Hotel
Address: 675 L St.
Popular anime “Demon Slayer” takes over the Omni Hotel this year (a space usually reserved for Fox Animation) in the biggest advertisement of them all. The installation wraps around the building with additional character images closer to street level for its upcoming “Infinity Castle” film. The film makes history as the first anime film to take over Comic-Con’s biggest room, the 6,500-seat Hall H, on Saturday. It also has an wrap on a trolley car.
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 third season and preparing for a fourth.
Gen V
Location: Houston TX Hot Chicken building
Address: 238 Fifth Ave.
A spin-off of Prime’s popular “The Boys” show, “Gen V” is set to debut a second season in September.
The Walking Dead
Location: The Pendry
Address: 550 J St.
AMC’s successful zombie franchise “The Walking Dead” covers the Pendry hotel with several of its projects: The “Daryl Dixon” show as the primary focus, with other shows “The Ones who Live” and “Dead City” at street level.
Starz
Location: Hard Rock Hotel San Diego
Address: 207 Fifth Ave.
The Starz network will use the Hard Rock Hotel to advertise several shows, including “Spartacus: House of Ashur” and “Outlander: Blood of My Blood.”
Hulu
Location: Petco Park
Address: 100 Park Blvd.
Two ABC shows that air on Hulu cover Petco Park this year, “The Rookie” and “Abbott Elementary.”
Alien: Earth
Location: Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Address: 1 Park Blvd.
The “Alien” franchise dips its toes into television with this new FX series.
The Vampire Lestat
Location: Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter
Address: 401 K St.
AMC’s franchise of shows based on Anne Rice books cover this hotel for “Interview with the Vampire” (the upcoming season adapts the novel, “The Vampire Lestat”) and “Talamasca.”
Fantastic 4: First Steps
Location: Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter
Address: 401 K St.
This advertisement, facing the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade, serves as a double promotion for the latest Marvel Studios movie and the Google Play store, which features several Marvel games.
Dexter: Resurrection
Location: Park 12
Address: 100 Park Plaza
San Diego’s biggest apartment complex, Park 12, serves as an advertisement for the latest “Dexter” show.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger
Location: Hilton San Diego Bayfront parking garage
Address: 1 Park Blvd.
Several video games cover the Hilton San Diego Bayfront’s parking garage, including “Digimon Story,” “Little Nightmares III” and “Code Vein II.”
Originally Published: July 22, 2025 at 6:00 AM PDT
just copy-pasting this article exposed me to unhealthy levels of advertising.
