BMW is facing a wave of owner anger after pushing promotional animations for Sony’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” onto the dashboard screens of vehicles in more than 70 countries, reviving criticism the automaker once insisted it would avoid.
According to a company release, BMW built the promotion around its Neue Klasse-generation iX3 and 5 Series sedan, both of which appear in the film. Starting the car brings up a banner on the Control Display; tapping it launches a full-screen animation with music and matching ambient lighting. The rollout runs from the film’s July 27 premiere through Aug. 10 on vehicles built after July 2020 running BMW’s newer operating systems.
Bernd Korber, senior vice president of BMW brand and product management, said the timing of the film’s release alongside the Neue Klasse launch “could not be more fitting,” calling both a “bold new beginning.”
The reception among owners has been far less enthusiastic. Threads on Reddit’s r/BMW forum and elsewhere have drawn heavy criticism from drivers who say a car they paid tens of thousands of dollars for should not double as an ad platform, with some comparing the campaign to an episode of “Black Mirror.”
The backlash is sharper because of BMW’s own history on the subject. In December 2023, Stephan Durach, the company’s senior vice president for connected company development, told an industry roundtable that BMW had no interest in selling dashboard screen space for commercials, according to TechSpot.
“It’s a private space,” Mr. Durach said at the time.
That comment has resurfaced repeatedly in coverage of the current campaign, alongside reminders of BMW’s 2022 experiment charging a monthly subscription to activate heated seats that came factory-installed in cars. The company confirmed to Autocar in September 2023 that it would stop the practice, according to TechCrunch. Critics say the Spider-Man promotion fits the same pattern of using a car’s software and connected screens to generate value from owners after the sale.
BMW has pushed back on the “advertising” label. The company told outlets, including Carscoops, that the in-vehicle animation is tied to a broader brand partnership that also included product placement for the iX3 in the film and a special edition of the SUV displayed at the movie’s Los Angeles premiere. BMW has said it has no plans for permanent in-vehicle advertising and maintains the content only appears when a stationary driver chooses to open it.
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