{"id":33560,"date":"2026-08-09T00:47:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=33560"},"modified":"2026-08-09T00:47:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:47:32","slug":"bmw-faces-backlash-over-spider-man-ads-on-dashboard-screens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=33560","title":{"rendered":"BMW faces backlash over \u2018Spider-Man\u2019 ads on dashboard screens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/08\/02\/Film_Review_-_Spider-Man__Brand_New_Day_41746_s1440x960.jpg?f72536d07237fdd262042ae8f5e6e6de3b865f3c\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>BMW is facing a wave of owner anger after pushing promotional animations for Sony\u2019s \u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day\u201d onto the dashboard screens of vehicles in more than 70 countries, reviving criticism the automaker once insisted it would avoid.<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.press.bmwgroup.com\/global\/article\/detail\/T0459622EN\/bmw-brings-modern-mobility-to-the-sony-pictures-film-%E2%80%9Cspider-man%E2%84%A2:-brand-new-day%E2%80%9D\">company release<\/a>, 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\u2019s July 27 premiere through Aug. 10 on vehicles built after July 2020 running BMW\u2019s newer operating systems.<\/p>\n<p>Bernd Korber, senior vice president of BMW brand and product management, said the timing of the film\u2019s release alongside the Neue Klasse launch \u201ccould not be more fitting,\u201d calling both a \u201cbold new beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The reception among owners has been far less enthusiastic. Threads on Reddit\u2019s 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 \u201cBlack Mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The backlash is sharper because of BMW\u2019s own history on the subject. In December 2023, Stephan Durach, the company\u2019s 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techspot.com\/news\/113327-bmw-putting-spider-man-ads-dashboard-after-promising.html\">TechSpot<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a private space,\u201d Mr. Durach said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>That comment has resurfaced repeatedly in coverage of the current campaign, alongside reminders of BMW\u2019s 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/09\/07\/bmw-feels-the-heat-stops-charging-for-warming-cheeks\/\">TechCrunch<\/a>. Critics say the Spider-Man promotion fits the same pattern of using a car\u2019s software and connected screens to generate value from owners after the sale.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p>BMW has pushed back on the \u201cadvertising\u201d label. The company told outlets, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/2026\/08\/bmw-dashboard-advertising\/\">Carscoops<\/a>, 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #3e3e3e;\"><em><br \/>\n                          This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times&#8217; AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times&#8217; original reporting, wire services, and\/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/ai-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">AI policy<\/a> or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/aug\/8\/bmw-faces-backlash-spider-man-ads-dashboard-screens\/mailto:sfink@washingtontimes.com\">sfink@washingtontimes.com<\/a><br \/>\n                      <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #3e3e3e;\"><em><br \/>\n                          The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/aug\/8\/bmw-faces-backlash-spider-man-ads-dashboard-screens\/mailto:aispotlight@washingtontimes.com\">aispotlight@washingtontimes.com<\/a>.<br \/>\n                      <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BMW is facing a wave of owner anger after pushing promotional animations for Sony\u2019s \u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day\u201d 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&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/08\/02\/Film_Review_-_Spider-Man__Brand_New_Day_41746_c0-166-4000-2499_s1200x700.jpg?7c25178dc2574790f1166b53173c712cf58622ab","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}