On Thursday night, Unilever removed 14 white spray-painted signs advertising a competition related to a deodorant product which it had painted around central Dunedin streets the night before.
Several of the signs were still visible yesterday, but would also be removed.
The advertisements were removed days after a local company was banned from water-blasting advertisements on footpaths.
Dunedin company Clean Advertising NZ was also asked to remove 80 signs it had water-blasted on to footpaths this week promoting a football match at Forsyth Barr stadium.
Roading maintenance engineer Peter Standring said Unilever was apologetic when he contacted it to order removal of the signs, and responded immediately.
The company had said it was not aware it needed permission, he said.
Formal policy being developed would deal specifically with footpath water-blasting, but the council already had control through general bylaws, including the 2008 roading bylaw and signage and hoarding bylaws, which prevented activities such as commercial advertising and the use of certain media on footpath surfaces, Mr Standring said.
One the main concerns was damage to surfaces, particularly pavers, which were sensitive to the methods required to remove such signs.
While the council did have discretion to allow spraying of signs on footpaths in some cases, permission was usually granted only if signs were in a restricted area, were easily removed, and had a social purpose.
The Otago University Students' Association, for example, had been given permission to spray some signs on to footpaths around North Dunedin next week, reminding students to keep safe. The OUSA had approached the council to seek a dispensation.
Mr Standring said three incidents in a week showed how ''this sort of thing'' could proliferate if it was not controlled.
The Unilever signs were painted in chalk paint, using a stencil, and would have eventually washed away, he said.
The council believed, however, that water-blasting etched marks into the surface, causing permanent damage.
