BMW is playing Spider-Man ads on car screens and owners are not happy: ‘This is the opposite of luxury’

BMW owners are seeing red — literally and figuratively — as the automaker has started playing ads for the Spider-Man movie on its in-car infotainment screens

Updated on: Aug 5, 2026, 08:39:02 IST

By Sanya Jain

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BMW owners are seeing red — literally and figuratively — as the automaker has started playing ads for the new Spider-Man movie on its in-car infotainment screens. The full-screen animation, displayed on BMW's main Control Display, has sparked criticism that the German automaker is turning private cars into advertising space — without giving drivers the option to opt out.

BMW owners are unhappy with the Spider-Man ad playing inside their cars. (X/trending_tony)

The Spider-Man ads are playing on BMW dashboards despite the fact that just three years ago, BMW executives said the inside of a car was “a private space” and not a place for advertising, Autoweek reported.

Ad sparks outrage

The dashboard ads have sparked massive criticism against the German automaker, while raising concerns about other companies treating in-car consoles as advertising spaces.

“Of all the brands I thought might bombard with in car ads on screen right when you start the engine, I had BMW pretty dang low on my list. This seems the opposite of luxury and performance,” wrote Josh Elman, a Partner at Andreessen Horowitz.

Sheel Mohnot said the whole thing seemed “crazy”. “When you start a BMW, it shows you an ad for Spider Man. Really cheapens BMW imo,” Mohnot said on X.

Software engineer Gergely Orosz was also among the critics. “Absolute madness. Why would anyone pay any premium for a BMW from now on when they become the product with force pushed ads after dropping $50K+ (or more) on a new car,” he wondered.

Sentiments were similar on Reddit, where many pointed out that the Spider-Man ad did not come with a skip button.

What consumer advocates say

The ad campaign was launched July 27 and will run through August 10. BMW said that the ad does not autoplay, but begins only after the driver selects the on-screen prompt.

Meanwhile, consumer advocates have raised concerns about in-car ads risking driver safety.

“These display screens are supposed to provide drivers with easy access to car controls like navigation, climate control, backup camera video, etc.,” Edgar Dworsky, founder of ConsumerWorld.org and a former assistant Massachusetts attorney general who worked in consumer protection, told The New York Post.

“Drivers don’t expect to be subjected to video advertising in the privacy of their own car and they shouldn’t be.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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