584
BMW Is Showing Commercials On Their Car's Dash Screens And They Want You To Think It's A Treat
(www.theautopian.com)
I love this for them
this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
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Technology
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I hope the slate truck does phenomenally well for several reasons, but one of them is most certainly to spank the fuck out of these shit-ass manufacturers who want to gaslight us into thinking screens were ever a good fucking idea for an automotive interface.
This is one of those things that might actually serve to push the notion that digital devices (including cars now) should be required to be capable of installing independent operating systems, especially open source ones.
I'd absolutely require military devices to be driven by open source software. And yes, that's a security liability, but security-by-obscurity is an even greater liability.
In the case of consumer devices, open-source access would be a means of protecting the end user from predatory software rife with dark patterns.
And yes, that's a security liability
Hardly. If anything it's a benefit to security. You don't have to run all the secret stuff using FOSS stuff. Just anything that runs the hardware (like the OS itself).
I would absolutely hack a car to remove garbage like this. The people who paid the cost of entry for these cars may be putting up with it now, but that won't go on forever as it slips down the model line into cars normal people can acquire.
And then they will all be asking, why are people buying chinese cars
I intentionally bought a car with the least intrusive ipad and if a company ever comes out with a car that is all analog I will only buy that car. Honestly the ipad wouldn't even be needed if they just gave me a place to dock my phone.
Sounds like you'll be buying a Slate.
I'd be shocked if it wasn't illegal to hack your own car by now. People are very authoritarian about vehicles. They're fine with unreasonable prices, mass surveillance, facial recognition, endless registries, and forced subscriptions (yes, that's insurance) and eat up any justification the government gives them for it.
Y'all aren't following gear head news, huh? https://www.slashgear.com/2092803/doj-no-charges-diesel-engine-delete-tune/
Yes, I hate coal rolling.
And I also LOVE using Forscan on the family truckster.
Thing is, some big companies think it's a good idea to make rules about what you're allowed to access (open software, repair ability) instead of what you can do (emissions, road rules), and that's the wrong way to have a free and organized civilization, but it's great for profit.
Tl;Dr right to repair is right to hack, don't ban that but do enforce limits on how things are actually used.
See also, laws that are intended to limit 3d printing in the name of gun control. We don't have gun use control in the US, but boy do we have lobbyists with reasons to restrict what we can print. Maybe even some gun manufacturers!
How long until you have to watch an ad before you can start going with the car?
Driver awareness camera detects inattentive driver. Ad restarting, please pay attention
McDonald's \o/
How long before some truck manufacturer sees their truck returned to them as a truck bomb after pulling this shit?
How much can we pay to buy a PSA about using the fucking turn signals?
What an awful “premium” brand. They’re the same ones trying for subscription access to heated seats, remote start, or driver assistance features among others.
What a crap brand.
I think it's already the case on turn signals, but nobody noticed
All they had to do was add a limited Spidey skin for the system for the movie and ask if you wanted to download it.
Boom, feature.
That is the weirdest thing. I can understand bottom of the barrel economy brand going "The initial cash is small, but we will nickle and dime you on the service fees and show ads. What can you do, afford a different car? Don't think so."
Premium brand like BMW? What you smoking there in Bavary?
Your customers can afford to choose another car. Your price is high enough people expect smooth nice experience. Not annoying ads or clear pointless cash grabs like charging for already installed seat heaters. Sell the trim package or not.
What people will accept is "okay the maintenance and service at garage costs, if one wants to maintain this in nice condition". Those suspension bushings, dampers, springs, tires and so on still need the normal amount of premium garage priced maintenance.
I have to imagine that the customers BMW targets probably like ostentatious consumerism, right? Maybe something like "these plebs don't even get premium ads on their car dashboard."
I mean I have no idea. I'm just guessing. They could afford another car, right? They must like it. Or are BMWs only for people that are like the "McMansion" level of rich? It's not like it's a Bentley or a Rolls, right? Those are car words. Aren't those the "old money" type of brands?
50% of all consumer spending is done by the top 10% of income earners. Maybe BMWs are the bottom of the barrel economy cars for that 10%. 🤷♂️
Exactly stupid nickel and dime cons like this are the fastest way to destroy brand image that takes decades to build, when I was ready to buy my first expensive Android phone I bought a Samsung Galaxy as I thought Samsung built good quality premium phones, and then I noticed that they had ads built into it through their default apps just like the budget android phone makers like Xiomi etc and I immediately lost all respect for the Samsung brand, my next phone was an iPhone after that
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The EU should ban this crap as soon as possible, it is clearly a distraction from driving
Given EU have created laws to require physical knobs for key features, I'd imagine this will be stopped as well.
BMW is the brand that tests for profit initiatives to see if they stick, I recall them being reported to attempt seated heating as a subscription a few years back
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Totally safe from this as I can't fucking afford a new car.
It doesn't make things much better, but:
the ad appears when the car is started, with an option to play it or not being displayed on the screen. I suppose that’s better than it autoplaying, but just barely.
Also, it doesn't play while you're driving.
BTW, according to BMW it's not an ad, lol:
To celebrate the partnership with Spider-Man™: Brand New Day, BMW has a special surprise for its drivers. The Spider-Man™ Animation will be available (in participating markets) to all customers with suitably equipped vehicles ... bla bla bla
Once again: since there's no way of getting around surveillance & IoT bullshit in cars, I'm just going to have to take extremely good care of my old clunker.
For now you can skip it. Later you need verification fuel for your car to do that.
I will continue to pray for Slate to not completely suck. There's a "smart" module that has a cellular modem, but it's something you have to opt into and pay for it.
What's Slate? Interesting.
All electric, modular pickup truck starting at $24,000. The truck is highly modular in parts and accessories as well as mods to turn it into more of a crossover/2 row vehicle. Stock vehicle comes with crank windows and no radio by default. All things you can add (or remove/modify) at any time. It's a startup, so it has yet to be seen how good of a reception it has.
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Ah yes, this is a partnership, not an ad.
Some marketing executive earned their paycheck for the month by coming up with this…
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If this shit came on while driving I would wreck the car ans sue the shit out of BMW.
But I'm not an asshole, so I'll never own a BMW...
It is illegal to show anything like that while the car is in gear.
However, it's completely fine as soon as you turn it on, or are sitting parked, or in aux mode.
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There's nothing like the freedom of having a car, trapped in a traffic jam, being forced to watch adverts. At least you won't notice all the cyclists going past you.
How considerate, after you watch the ad, they leave a new button on the dashboard, so you can watch the ad again and again
The most amazing thing about all this is the execs that came up with the idea genuinely seem to think people want this.
How out of touch can you get?
Nope. They didn't think it was a great idea because people will like it. They thought it was a great idea because of money.
If you have worked with marketing or brand of a large corp, those people are always the furthest away from the real work a company does. They have no idea of the real customer base, only numbers on engagement and NPS reports.
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Prime example of enshittification
There isn't much luxury in a car that annoys you with ads, is there?
But hey, maybe there's an extra-super-luxury subscription that lets you turn off the ads. You know, like YouTube Premium or something, except that the free version already costs several tens of thousands of dollars.
It's a win-win: insecure rich guys can feel superior again and BMW gets $.
Yeah, there's a guy in the crosswalk, but are you happy with your hemorrhoid ointment?
That’s only fun for idiots and only once or twice.
The insurance industry, on the other hand, will have a field day.
I dream of the day all marketing people are flung into a mass grave.
I mean, this is just crap marketing from incompetent idiots.
A better marketing strategy would be to have Spiderman themes for the infotainment, and i don't just mean a generic Spiderman wallpaper and icons, no, make an Avenger's computer UI design that fits the theme, complete with themed sound and lighting effects. The tech is there, don't just limit it to just displaying a video.
You could easily do that for different movies/brands without it being seen as marketing slop.
I mean if they wanted a themed UI from the Agents of Shield franchise they could make a Shield one and a Hydra one. When selecting the Hydra, the lightshow could make it look as if Hydra is taking over the car.
But good marketing today is a lost art, slap a video on everything, produce a shitload of crappy stickers with the generic logo of the film, produce from low quality "limited edition" collectors item....
This is just boring, but make the movie universe seem real, and you got a hook that will not only work, but actually be praised.
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