Sporting mega-events (SMEs) are widely recognized as unique opportunities to project and promote a host city and nation to domestic and international audiences and travelers. For the 2016 World Cup, a central preoccupation of the city, nation, and Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) was to augment Rio de Janeiro’s culture of beach and sun, festivals, forests, iconic mountainous landscapes, art, museums, music, dance, and food. However, promotion of the city also had to combat negative reports and depictions of favelas and their problematic association with danger, crime, poverty, corruption, and violence. Typically, marginal urban spaces are excluded from official SME promotions. In contrast, the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) incorporated favelas as part of its vision for the city as vibrant, colorful, and safe, and specifically in its opening ceremonies. In critically analyzing the opening ceremonies, we suggest that the favela was reimagined as a romanticized product for external cultural consumption.