BMW Spider-Man in-car advertising

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ggoplayoutside about 3 hours ago 86 commentsRead Article on consumerrights.wiki

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72% Positive

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Discussion (86 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

helterskelter•about 3 hours ago

Great way to tank a brand. Part of BMW's value is/was the expectation of an upper middle class snob driving it, but having your car force ads on you is something people wouldn't even expect from a Kia Soul leased off a used lot.

dehrmann•about 2 hours ago

It's like a basic Kindle. Or Ryanair.

Between this, the proprietary nut patent, and the heated seat subscription, I'm probably not going to look at BMW for my next car. They've been going back on things, but all of this adds up to they don't get it.

Barbing•2 minutes ago

>basic Kindle

Praise be to AdBreak https://kindlemodding.org/jailbreaking/AdBreak

I practically own it now!

Ryanair: can’t recall if they’re worse than Spirit/Frontier. “We have one price for tiny people flying with the shirt on their back, and other prices for everyone else like those who might need luggage, or, liquid to survive.“

riffraff•about 1 hour ago

Ryanair is the epitome of "cheap with compromise" which is the opposite of the BMW brand. And kindle basic gets advertising as a known feature at buying time.

Pushing advertisment after sale on a premium product is absolutely not similar.

2muchcoffeeman•37 minutes ago

A BMW is like a flagship smart phone. It looks like luxury, but everyone has them.

mplewis•about 1 hour ago

No, it's obviously not like that.

calmbonsai•about 2 hours ago

Yup. I'd say ICE cars peaked in UX, performance, and safety in the early 2000s.

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS•about 2 hours ago

This has nothing to do with the method used to propel the vehicle. There's nothing stopping this from happening in an EV.

sandworm101•26 minutes ago

Correct. This is about the people who buy new cars. The manufacturers are addressing a well-studied market. Those with money, those who can afford to be "early adopters' of new tech are the sort of people who actually want these features. They want computer screens. They want car-phone synchronization. They want a car that can be "repaired" over an internet connection because that saves interacting with a tradesperson with skills they do not understand or appreciate. Cars are scary for such people. Phones are not. So making the car as phone-like as possible sells more cars.

edoceo•about 1 hour ago

The electric motor is better for torque and speed than ICE.

rvz•about 3 hours ago

> Part of BMW's value is/was the expectation of an upper middle class snob driving it

BMWs are no where near for that "class". A Mercedes-Benz is for that and even they also put ads in their own dashboard screens. [0]

So on HN-land, time to rule out BMWs, Chevrolets, Mercedes-Benz, Teslas, Volkswagens, Kias. What else?

[0] https://www.motor1.com/news/797846/mercedes-screen-plays-ads...

ehnto•about 1 hour ago

Mercs and BMWs occupy the same market space. They are direct competitors.

Mercedes may have a car or two that reaches just out of upper middle class but they are largely a middle to upper middle class brand, just like BMW.

The fact that Merc would do it too just means they are both happy cheapening their brand to align with practices of cheap off-brand android TVs.

dash2•3 minutes ago

Actually Apple will also put advertising on your phone if you have one of the dynamic carousel things and you walk into the wrong area.

jchw•about 2 hours ago

I don't think I'll be buying recent model years any time soon.

femto•about 2 hours ago

I'm beginning to think that my '96 Toyota Starlet is "peak ICE". It has EFI, no infotainment, no power windows, no power steering, no automatic transmission. It is basically an engine, gearbox and wheels. An electric Starlet would be Nirvana.

Edit: Just read that Toyota is toying with the idea of an electric Starlet. It'll probably have an infotainment system and power "everything" though.

https://www.drive.com.au/news/2026-toyota-starlet-rumours/

larusso•10 minutes ago

Just saying that these brands have different offerings in different countries. Here in Germany all big brands: Audi, BMW, Mercedes and VW etc have offerings from low lever to luxury car.

yegle•about 2 hours ago

Volvo, with their terrible infortainment system's performance, I'm not sure if it's capable of displaying ads.

dylan604•31 minutes ago

And here you thought they were just incompetent. Turns out, they've been looking out for you this whole time

kridsdale1•about 2 hours ago

My Lexus 2025 remains perfect and user friendly. I have all the online connected stuff enabled. Zero enshitification.

maxnevermind•26 minutes ago

Why 2025 though? It didn't yet pass the test of time and there is not enough failure rate data on it. Toyotas(Lexus) do have serious quality issues too, rarely but that happens for certain models from time to time.

mentalfist•about 2 hours ago

Many NA produced lexus models have seen deteriorating quality issues past 5 or so years. Maybe yours is produced in Japan?

ludicrousdispla•about 2 hours ago

>> Zero enshitification.

Lexus should put that on the cover of their product brochure.

roundwego•about 2 hours ago

Lexus is a kino sleeper.

chaostheory•about 1 hour ago

You make it sound like there's no choice. Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura don't do it to my knowledge. Am I wrong?

EDIT Add Volvo and Genesis to the list of no ads

c7b•37 minutes ago

It sounds awful, but it might not even make the top-5 of the most annoying/concering things you'll get in a new car (bought in the EU at least), many of which are now mandatory by regulation. What you'll also get is a camera that tracks your eye movements to play an alert when they're not on the road, an alarm when you drive over the allowed speed limit as determined by a camera, an alarm plus a mechanical yanking of your driving wheel when you're approaching the side of your lane without a turn signal on. As a cherry on top it's unclear what happens with all the data generated by these systems. And I'm probably forgetting a few.

I'm wondering what a good cutoff date is when considering buying a used car.

maxgashkov•32 minutes ago

I get all of these with more or less recent (2023) Mazda here in Japan, but all of them can be turned off in settings. Are they always-on in EU?

c7b•27 minutes ago

I haven't driven a recent model but afaik the answer for most is Yes, or at best you can disable them for the current ride and they turn on again automatically on every start.

maxgashkov•22 minutes ago

That's quite insane then. Especially the lane departure warning / assist was downright dangerous in snowy conditions when the road markings became partially covered, I cannot imagine driving with that setting on all the time.

cuu508•10 minutes ago

Texting and driving is a real problem.

dylan604•33 minutes ago

My 2015 has none of these things. It has a rear camera, no telemetry, physical buttons, no internal nav, and no giant tough screen.

DanOpcode•22 minutes ago

Same in my car from 2017. Also has rear camera, no infotainment other than bluetooth (so I guess it doesn't have any telemetry), physical buttons, no internal nav, no EU warning systems, no alerts that I need to turn off. Perfect car. Very peaceful to drive.

tmcnally•10 minutes ago

BMWs have decent 'mod' support, if you fully own a msport/M you can be mitigating OTA updates in firmware to retain your perf/exhaust pops as regulations/OEMs change goals. Original firmware b58s (m340/z4m40) are infamously coveted for specific software/hardware versions... Same logic can be applied to this strange advert thingy

OptionOfT•2 minutes ago

Engine modules are locked because of regulation to ensure that emissions control remain in place.

Pops don't disappear with software updates. Pops disappeared in Europe because of the dreaded OPF.

inasio•22 minutes ago

The main story in the wiki page comes from the Autopian [0], specifically from Jason Torchinsky, ex Jalopnik. It's an awesome publication, check them out, and Jason is an incredible writer (Onion alumni)

[0] https://www.theautopian.com/bmw-is-showing-commercials-on-th...

narmiouh•about 3 hours ago

Samsung the same with their display on fridge, I'm not sure how is this legal and why someone thinks this is ok.

These decision makers are meant to be educated people with may be at least a tiny bit of values in their lives...

DanOpcode•18 minutes ago

On my Samsung TV recently on the start page some ad has started to show up, years after I bought it. No idea if I can get rid of it. I barely watch TV though, so I don't really care about wasting time trying to get rid of it. But I will for sure avoid Samsung in future TV purchases.

cautiouscat•about 2 hours ago

I agree that it’s abhorrent. However the doomer in me can’t help but think they do these things because consumers still buy them. You’d expect GE to go “Oh yeah well we don’t put ads on OUR fridges.” but it seems like in every industry they all just follow suit.

jaredhallen•about 2 hours ago

I suppose they've determined the revenue from the ads outweighs the potential competitive advantage.

polotics•17 minutes ago

Or they know it's a race to the bottom where as long as every brand's doing it, consumers have no choice...

dfxm12•about 2 hours ago

It's not like they're showing ads on fridges/cars in the commercials or the display units in Lowe's/the dealership. By the time you see the ad, it's too much of a hassle to return it, even if you can...

tootie•about 2 hours ago

No coincidence, BMW and Samsung did product placement in the movie too. Very conspicuously.

DrewADesign•about 3 hours ago

I wonder if they say: "A new life awaits you in the Off-world colonies. The chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure."

kridsdale1•about 2 hours ago

Start…the…reactor

DanOpcode•31 minutes ago

Wouldn't it be fair if BMW at least shared the advertisement revenue with the car owners?

It's so ugly that they first sell cars, and profit from that. And then they utilize the fleet of cars to squeeze out more revenue, even though that was never part of the contract to begin with. What right does BMW have to do that?

If they found a new revenue source, it would be nice if they at least shared that with their customers. Now it's just abuse of their customers. Where BMW is one-sided profiting while the customers are suffering.

wvenable•26 minutes ago

> Wouldn't it be fair if BMW at least shared the advertisement revenue with the car owners?

No.

tonyedgecombe•18 minutes ago

Whilst we are having a dig at BMW owners it turns out that most of them don't know whether their car is front or rear wheel drive.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/bmw-80-of-1series-owners-don...

haritha-j•9 minutes ago

This and the eye tracking could make a killer combo. “Stare at this ad for 30s to unlock the drive gear”.

fumeux_fume•about 3 hours ago

> BMW's own PressClub release described the advertisement as a special surprise for drivers...

That one got a chuckle out of me

userbinator•about 2 hours ago

Like coming back to your car getting broken into, a surprise doesn't necessarily have to be a positive one.

walrus01•about 3 hours ago

If please drink a verification can was applied to automobiles.

powerpcmac•about 2 hours ago

The car will remain in park until you roll down the windows and yell "I love McDonalds!"

squirtle24•about 1 hour ago

Spend $20 at your local Burger King and we'll turn off that oil leak!

walrus01•about 2 hours ago

Earn 300 bonus BMWBucks by visiting your local Taco Bell (R) (TM) drive through in the next 15 minutes! Limited time offer!

tonyedgecombe•29 minutes ago

That explains all the Beemers not stopping at pedestrian crossings.

OsrsNeedsf2P•about 3 hours ago

Great to see the Consumer Rights wiki has been picking up steam. Lots of passionate people behind the project

smlacy•about 1 hour ago

The ultimate driving machine... for marginal revenue.

userbinator•about 2 hours ago

Hopefully their lawyers have considered the possibility of a bug causing this ad to play while the car is being driven and leading to a distracted driving accident...

on suitably equipped vehicles running BMW Operating System 7, 8, 8.5, 9, or OS X built after July 2020

For those who were surprised by that naming, Apple hasn't used "OS X" for nearly 10 years.

foo12bar•about 2 hours ago

This looks like it, possibly. There doesn't seem to be a banner that you click on like it states in the consumer rights article, but rather an icon, so not sure.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Z8v2tsYdgRk

OptionOfT•about 2 hours ago

The icon is there to replay it. It'll auto-play like the 4th of July video.

bredren•19 minutes ago

A month ago the highly upvoted blog entry [0] about Rivian’s rejection of CarPlay included this quote from Rivian’s Chief Software Officer, Wassym Bensaid:

   The challenge with screen mirroring solutions is that they take over every single pixel in the car, and that’s not the way we see ourselves interacting with our users.

Yes, it’s clear the companies’ see the way they want to “interact” with their customers is to force whatever content they please.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48769397

luciana1u•about 1 hour ago

at this point the luxury car feature is that nothing in it demands your attention. a screen that just shows the speed and the fuel gauge and shuts up

ehnto•about 1 hour ago

The safety of a 2025 with the driving UX of a 1995 is what I want.

Rohunyyy•about 3 hours ago

Shocked. Absolutely shocked. No one saw this coming

Neil44•39 minutes ago

My BYD doesn't do this.

DanOpcode•10 minutes ago

Soon Chinese tech will be viewed as premium class while their competitors are eroding their quality.

jcastro•about 3 hours ago

Shades of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Innocence_(U2_album)#...

LeoPanthera•about 2 hours ago

I don't see how. One is a full-screen commercial. The other is a free album in your library.

userbinator•about 2 hours ago

They're both violations of boundaries associated with ownership.

jcastro•about 2 hours ago

It depends if you like U2 or not I suppose.

fnord77•about 2 hours ago

I got hit with this Wednesday morning when I started my 330i. I cannot wait to sign up for the class action lawsuit.

artisinal•about 2 hours ago

Time to upgrade to a 2008 330i

fragmede•about 3 hours ago

One of the best things one of me mates from high school did for me, is buy himself a BMW. The amount of problems and money he had to deal with helped me realize I didn't actually want a BMW, they're just nice to look at.

genter•about 3 hours ago

They're also really nice to drive (at least when they work).

calmbonsai•about 2 hours ago

Only the older ones without screens. A naturally aspirated inline 6 with a manual gearbox and 50/50 weight distribution is it's own special kind of bliss.

I only take it out maybe 20 times per year, but after merely 30s behind the wheel I remember why I keep it.

artisinal•about 2 hours ago

And no electronic steering like the newer ones.

fragmede•about 2 hours ago

Oh he let me drive it a couple of times and the thing was an absolute beast.

Markoff•41 minutes ago

they were nice to look at before they hired some military tank designer

and even looking at them is safe only seen they are parked, I warned my kids to be extra vigilant when they are nearby BMW on the road, by far the most dangerous drivers on the road with mental issues

Markoff•about 1 hour ago

this is what you get for buying cheap noname brand car from Temu

similar thing happened with that British LGBT brand, which is gone

though it's clear people who buy BMW are not mentally sane anyway, I'm yet to see BMW driver with stable personality who would not vent their mental issues on the road, these people will buy BMW with literally any design and specs just because it's BMW, no matter it looks like ugly tank

I honestly believe if we banned BMW car registrations number of accidents would drop much more than it's their total share on registrations.

timc3•2 minutes ago

Seriously not helpful, and have you actually matched this opinion to the statistics which are freely available?

onetokeoverthe•about 3 hours ago

and the in-dash eye tracking device shows 66% of drivers engage for at least 5 seconds!!

artisinal•about 2 hours ago

The ad will pause if you look away!

matheusmoreira•40 minutes ago

I suppose it could be worse. The ad could torture you with loud high pitched noise until you look at it, like in Black Mirror's 15 million merits.

asciii•about 3 hours ago

Drove a lot of BMWs when I was working summers as a mechanic

technol0gic•about 2 hours ago

wow what an amazing story