• by Tanya Gazdik , 93 minutes ago

BMW owners are venting online about the automaker’s decision to go back on a promise not to inflict in-vehicle advertising on them.

“Three years after BMW executives said the inside of a car was ‘a private space’ and not a place for advertising, the automaker is facing backlash for rolling out a Spider-Man promotion to infotainment screens around the world,” according to Autoweek. “The move raises concerns that automakers are turning vehicle dashboards into rolling billboards for their literal captive audiences.”

Radio commercials are intrusive enough, said Stephan Durach, the brand's senior vice president, connected company development, at the time. 

“At the end of the day, I think your car is your last private space,” Durach told a small group of media members including Marketing Daily during a roundtable discussion in December 2023. “It’s where you can do whatever you want by yourself -- you have the right temperature, the music you want. To say I'm selling the screen to play a commercial -- I don't see it. It’s a private space.”

That was then and this is now, apparently. 

A banner ad appears when the car is started, though owners have to click on the ad to see the full video. The video is accompanied by blinking lights inside the vehicle. Though drivers can choose to skip the ad, it persists as an app on their car’s display, according to The Atlantic. 

“The banner reads "Surprise! Spider-Man just dropped into your BMW!" Tapping the ad triggers a full-screen animation that plays across the Control Display, the main center screen, while the car's ambient lighting changes color in sync,” according to Business Insider. “The animation follows a BMW driving through a city street as Spider-Man swings overhead. It closes on Spider-Man dragging the BMW logo down the frame, resolving into the end card: 'BMW and SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY EXCLUSIVELY IN CINEMAS.'”

"The ads began appearing last week on newer-model vehicles and some drivers who forked up to $160,000 for a luxury car or SUV aren’t very happy about being spammed when they start their cars,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “The promotion is scheduled to run through Aug. 10, according to the automaker’s press release, and represents a partnership between the automaker and Sony-Marvel.”

BMW said the animation will run in around 70 markets until Aug. 10 on vehicles with a production date after July 2020.

The partnership underlines the BMW commitment to combining innovation, technology and cultural relevance, according to the automaker.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” premiered in theaters on July 31. Key parts are played by the new BMW iX3, the first Neue Klasse model, and the BMW 5 Series Sedan. Both vehicles are woven into the plot of the film.