Notes ·
BMW Turned Its Customers’ Dashboards into Advertising Space
Consumer Rights Wiki documents BMW’s decision to place a Spider-Man: Brand New Day promotion on the dashboard displays of vehicles its customers had already purchased.
Starting the car displayed a promotional banner. Selecting it launched a full-screen animation with music and an ambient-lighting show. BMW described this as a “special surprise,” but it was advertising delivered through a privately owned vehicle as part of a commercial partnership. The campaign reached suitably equipped BMWs in more than 70 markets.
What makes this worse is that a BMW executive said in 2023 that the company would not sell space on its in-car screens because the vehicle was a private space. Less than three years later, that promise apparently stopped mattering.
This is how companies destroy trust in their own brands for a relatively small advertising opportunity. A premium vehicle should not become another screen where its manufacturer can demand your attention after the sale.
I was never likely to own a BMW, but now I would never even consider one. The fact that the advertisement did not autoplay is beside the point. BMW demonstrated that it sees dashboards inside customer-owned cars as advertising inventory.
Software-defined vehicles give manufacturers enormous continuing control over products after people buy them. Every company watching this should understand the boundary clearly: my car is not your billboard.