BMW owners are finding an unwelcome passenger on their dashboards. Since late July, an over-the-air update has been pushing a “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” promotional animation onto the center displays of newer BMW vehicles, and many drivers are furious about ads showing up in cars they already paid for.
The animation appears as a pop-up when a driver starts the car, reading “Surprise! Spider-Man just dropped into your BMW!” Tapping it launches a full-screen commercial showing the web-slinger swinging alongside a BMW through city streets, paired with music and a synchronized light show from the car’s ambient lighting. BMW says the feature reaches vehicles equipped with iDrive operating systems 7 through X built after July 2020, and it’s live in more than 70 markets through August 10, timed to the film’s release.
The backlash arrived fast. Drivers on Reddit’s r/BMW forum called the campaign “insanely dystopian” and demanded regulators step in, with one commenter noting that owners who paid as much as $160,000 for a vehicle shouldn’t have to sit through a movie trailer to start it.
The anger carries extra sting given BMW’s own prior stance on the subject. In December 2023, a senior BMW executive said flatly that the company had no interest in selling ad space on its screens, describing the car’s interior as a private space that shouldn’t double as a billboard.
BMW frames the tie-in differently, calling it part of a broader partnership that also placed BMW vehicles, including the automaker’s new iX3 electric SUV, inside the film itself and on the red carpet at its Los Angeles premiere. The Spider-Man campaign fits into a marketing push that analytics firm RelishMix has called the largest promotional rollout in Hollywood history, with total media value across BMW and other partners such as Samsung and McDonald’s reportedly reaching $309 million.
Product placement running the other direction, from a brand into a customer’s own vehicle interface, remains rare enough that BMW’s move has become a flashpoint for how far automakers might push in-car advertising as vehicles grow more connected.
