Mattie McPhee was peacefully jogging along Martin Goodman Trail on Friday afternoon when a car ad beneath her feet stopped her cold.

“NISSAN, 4 DAYS ONLY,” said the red and white letters on the pavement. “AUG. 22-25, ADDITIONAL $1000 OFF, LIMITED TIME.”

Just above the letters, an arrow pointed McPhee towards a nearby promotional event by the car brand being held at Ontario Place.

The 20-year-old, who doesn’t drive, was aghast.

“They’re wrecking this beautiful path,” she said. “We’re supposed to be enjoying nature and they’re corrupting it with this ugly Nissan sign.”

At least eight Nissan ads promoting a car sale were seen plastered along the trail Friday — the same day the city unveiled a new mural inside the rainbow tunnel along the Don Valley Parkway, meant to discourage graffiti in public spaces.

The city says Nissan was never granted permission to advertise on city parkland.

“The installations were not authorized,” said Wynna Brown, the city’s manager of media relations and issues management, in an email. She added the manufacturer could be fined for the ads. “Staff are investigating and they will be removed.”

But the automaker insists it consulted with the city beforehand.

“Nissan’s experiential agency inquired with several people at the city and were told that there is no permit necessary for this type of art/promotions so they were OK to move ahead with it,” said Mark James of Cohn & Wolfe, the public relations agency representing Nissan, via email.

In a later email, however, James said “it was our understanding that all necessary permits were obtained for the implementation of this event.”

While James noted the lettering was done in chalk, Brown said “it could not be easily removed, so it does not appear to be simply sidewalk chalk.”

Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, who presented the rainbow tunnel mural, compared Nissan to graffiti artists who had desecrated the tunnel over the years.

“Defacing public property is wrong and it’s illegal,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who it is or what it is, whether it’s an individual or a company. I’m surprised Nissan would do that.”

While the mural reflected its surroundings—depicting kids playing and the seasons changing—lead artist Rob Matejka said the Nissan ads failed to do the same.

“You can’t drive a Nissan onto the path,” he said. “It’s out of context.”

Ian Finley, who was biking along the trail Friday, was confused by the placement of the ads.

“It’s counter-intuitive because you’re on a bike path and you’re publicizing a car company,” he said. “Nissan’s got money. They could’ve at least thrown the city a few bucks to maintain the pathways better. Then they could’ve publicized themselves as environmentally friendly.”

James indicated that green marketing had little to do with Nissan’s decision to make their mark on the path.

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“We wanted to put the ads somewhere people would see it, kind of like putting your name on stairs,” he said.

But several cyclists said the plan was ineffective. “When you’re going by it at that speed, you can’t even see it,” said Finley.