T2 Suing Chicago Transit Over Pulled Ads

Breach of Contract the Main Beef

A week before the Grand Theft Auto IV launch, the Chicago Transit Authority, operating amid a myriad of violent times in the windy city, opted to pull out of a $300,000 advertising blitz on its transportation mediums.

That wasn’t necessarily newsworthy because…well, in a way, it was expected. GTAIV is a blockbuster title but it is also a polarizing one in molding the argument linking games and violence. At least one other city, Miami, followed suit, and several more like Philadelphia saw the controversy coming and defended the decision to sell ad space.

With that in mind, what makes a follow-up to the CTA story noteworthy now is how Take-Two Interactive is now responding. They have filed papers in court to force the CTA to run the ads.

The complaint accuses the CTA and sales agent Titan Outdoor LLC of violating a contract when the move was made to cease advertising. In addition to seeking an injunction to have the ads be run, Take-Two is also seeking at least the value of the contract in damages.

We’ll keep tabs to see how this lawsuit pans out.