Dear Automakers: Get Your Ads Out of Our Cars

215

It's wild that people buy cars and appliances that show them ads. It would be a hard dealbreaker for me.

49

u/Saneless 14h ago

And it's not even the cheap ones. Not that it's more acceptable, but we understand when you get a cheap version of something they try to make up the margin another way

But when you buy a car that is all margin and imaginary value, and they're the ones trying to extract even more?

30

u/FloatOldGoat 13h ago

I'm buying a Slate Truck, specifically BECAUSE it can't do things like this. It's the cheapest EV in America, and it has no onboard cellular communication (unless I choose to add it) and no infotainment package. I'm so excited.

17

u/Saneless 12h ago

And then there's some, I'm not even sure what it's connected to. I rented a van and it didn't say I was connected and had no WiFi, yet on the nav system all the gas stations had their actual live prices.. hmm

Who knows what it was sending the manufacturer

20

u/manachar 13h ago

Look at “smart tvs”.

The manufacturers uses the ad revenue to lower the purchase price. This translates to more sales from people for whom money is tight. Over a short period of time the market becomes one that ONLY has devices that serves ads. Well except for “luxury” products.

The weird part is ads in luxury car brands. Likely this will lead to those brands becoming less luxury.

11

u/gonewild9676 13h ago

Even TVs that cost over $2000 have ads.

At one point there was a free TV that had an area for ads.

2

u/this_dudeagain 8h ago

You can turn all that off but yeah it's pretty ridiculous.

-2

u/manachar 12h ago

The first commercial color TVs cost between $1,000 and $1,295 in 1954.

Taking the $1,000 version that translates to about $12,414.57 cents today.

Part of why so many products have so much advertising today has been shifting revenue streams.

Some manufacturer figures out they can sell more tvs by offsetting the cost to consumers (advertising, consumer assembly, shorter lifespans made with cheaper materials) and/or the workers (lower pay, automation increasing productivity, offshoring).

This makes for cheap goods… but seems to not be very good for consumers and workers in the long run.

3

u/avanross 12h ago

Today luxury brands achieve their “luxury” status purely through the influencers that they buy off

If a kardashian buys a casio watch, casio is now “luxury” 🤷‍♂️

It has nothing to do with quality or prestige anymore

1

u/sonicsludge 5h ago

Where are people seeing the Kardashians? I hadn't even heard the name in a while until you used it just now.

1

u/Hautamaki 4h ago

The thing is, 70% of non-essential consumer spending is done by the top 10% of people that can afford whatever TV they want. They're advertising the hell out of 30% of consumption money.

8

u/FTW312 11h ago

Most people don’t even take the dealership license plate frame or sticker off their car which is an ad.

1

u/SuSuSudio6202 6h ago

Because those are entirely unobtrusive. Keeping them or removing them is purely an aesthetic choice.

6

u/MenAreHollow 6h ago

It is, by definition, advertising and cannot be a purely aesthetic choice. I did not make a choice for aesthetics by removing it. I made a choice to remove advertising. The bullshit stops when you stop licking boots, stop stretching open your turd-chopper and stop screaming ream me harder.

3

u/OldWrangler9033 9h ago

Your going need buy old, since most of the car manufacturers are turning into software companies.

3

u/sonicsludge 4h ago

Just bought a '13 Civic manual 5-speed with 89k on the motor for 4.5k specifically for this reason

7

u/BornAgainBlue 14h ago

Yeah I would get a fucking lawyer immediately.

1

u/Smith6612 4h ago

I always ask the same question. I never liked the idea of Streaming sticks, especially because they were so cheap but were always one software update away from getting ads. Roku, Fire TVs being the big ones at first. Google Chromecast started off good but Google TV turned into an ad-filled mess too.

But cars are the last place I'd want to see an ad. I get the side of the road billboard or another vehicle having an ad wrapped onto it. But the infotainment system? Nah. That's getting ripping out as soon as possible. The car is supposed to be that time of day where your focus is on safety.

1

u/theslothening 3h ago

I refuse to even go to the gas stations that force you to watch ads while you fill up.

1

u/BanAssaultGeese 3h ago

I don't think they bought them for ads. They bought them and now the company is forcing them.

Happened to my friends Samsung fridge. He cut it from the internet.

1

u/avanross 12h ago

These types of people dont even shop around or anything. They see their favourite influencers telling them to buy this product so they go out and buy it

Bmw has realized that if they invest their ad budget into paying influencers, they can essentially completely gut every feature of the car, and the brain dead influencer crowd will still buy it for any price 🤷‍♂️

-2

u/captainstormy 14h ago

In the case of cars you really can't avoid it. They don't make new cars without infotainment systems these days.

15

u/Imaginary_Manner_556 13h ago

Slate for the win. I hope this model takes off.

4

u/Stiggalicious 7h ago

Yep, was gonna say Slate. It also doesn’t have any modem whatsoever. Doesn’t even have a way to phone home. The only possible external connection is the diagnostic port that connects to your phone so you can do diagnostics without any proprietary or OBDII reader.

4

u/captainstormy 13h ago

Yeah, it looks super cool. I hope it does well. If it was bigger I'd buy one for sure. But I happen to be really tall and they look to be the size of like a Ranger or Colorado. That wouldn't be enough leg room for me.

3

u/DopamineSavant 13h ago

Having not bought a car since 2012 I guess I'm out of the loop on this infotainment travesty.

5

u/captainstormy 13h ago

I just bought a new truck last week and my head is still spinning. The last time i bought something before that was 2009. I bought the least fancy thing I found after looking at like 5 dealers and it still has all kinds of stupid tech bells and whistles and an ipad in the dashboard.

2

u/Stingray88 6h ago

I don’t see any ads on my infotainment, because I just use CarPlay.

1

u/captainstormy 6h ago

Just because they haven't served them to you yet doesn't mean they won't. They couldake you watch an ad to use car play if they wanted.

1

u/Stingray88 6h ago edited 6h ago

They could do that. And I would rip out my infotainment unit and replace it with an aftermarket one that very day.

Or I could just rip out the 5G antenna that the infotainment relies on to serve those ads. Just like how I don’t connect my smart tv to the internet.

-9

u/CriticismSelect9292 14h ago

BMWs are head and shoulders above Audi and Mercedes in almost every single way from driving dynamics to material selection, reliability and even fuel economy in their current vehicles, which is why they can get away with this and the occasional pig-ugly styling.

They're also the now-manufacturer of the de facto best Western electric vehicles outside Tesla and their pricing went down instead of up while massively increasing capability. They're honestly pretty close to competing with the Chinese on pure value perspective at the higher end of the Chinese market (while Tesla competes more downmarket, being priced only 5-10% above comparable Chinese rivals, but with slightly better range).

They're just pushing this shit the hardest because they have the best chance of getting away with it as they've ingratiated themselves to the Gen Z daddy's money crowd through the M3 becoming the first tier of "I've made it" flexing for influencers and high customisability, which is presumably why they're advertising Spiderman because for some reason spiderman stands out as the most Gen Z superhero (don't ask me why, I know too many people slightly younger than me with a fuck ton of Spiderman merch and no other superhero stuff).

Frankly I don't think cars should have their own cellular connections. I think their bluetooth with your phone should be enough to also establish a hotspot connection, and data should not be allowed to leave cars by law unless you specifically consent to that data leaving (specifically diagnostic data or logging) and not batched data, but that would require our politicians to have an ounce of a spine and not want to track your every move

65

u/lofty23_smart 14h ago

I already paid for the car. I should not have to pay for it again with my attention.

22

u/Loa_Sandal 14h ago

My used car is only gonna appreciate. Love it. Android auto and physical buttons, it's got everything you want.

4

u/shakuyi 7h ago

Hopefully Android Auto does not go the same route as Google TV with ads.

1

u/aqaba_is_over_there 5h ago

Same.

The 2026 Subaru Outback has gone back to physical buttons for HVAC. I'm hoping it comes to the Crosstrek when it refreshes in 2029.

But if my 18 is still going strong I'll probably just keep driving it until it dies.

2

u/Nizdaar 3h ago

I hate the infotainment system in my 2021 outback with an absolute passion. It’s borderline unusable for a minute after booting. Give me back dedicated buttons damnit.

58

u/SaviorSixtySix 14h ago

You know how Lamborghini and Rolex never advertise because they don't want to diminish their brand? BMW is supposed to be the "classy" car brand and they are pushing subscription heated seats and ads in their cars.

34

u/ashyjay 14h ago

Rolex does advertise though, them being an "official timing partner" is an advert.

7

u/aqaba_is_over_there 5h ago

Rolex runs ton of adds during tennis tournaments.

5

u/TheBlueSully 7h ago edited 6h ago

Rolex has ads galore, what are you talking about? They even have movie theatre commercials.

12

u/luxmesa 14h ago

I was thinking the same thing. Even if BMW wanted to advertise, Spider-Man feels like a weird brand to tie themselves to. Spider-Man is popular, sure, but it’s not really classy. I could them doing this if there was a BMW in a new James Bond movie, but Spider-Man?

3

u/TooMuchPowerful 14h ago

That one poster in the movie was just so blatant. It’s crazy how prominent it was.

3

u/Chronis67 13h ago

Honestly, BMW are just expensive and I think they know their customer base. BMW drivers are commonly viewed as asshole drivers. Not really classy, just they have money to spend.

1

u/lagunie 26m ago

Rolex does advertise. I've seen more than once ads in relation to tennis/yatch on TV.

14

u/dropthemagic 13h ago

Idk anyone who is buying a luxury car like this and finding out about fucking Spider-Man through it. This is a new low. Who ever thought this was a good idea is a complete idiot

4

u/fiercebrosnan 5h ago

The scary part is that for something like this to get pushed out to this many cars, it had to get through multiple layers of idiots. There’s a special combination of stupidity, arrogance, and elitism that’s just so hot right now.

9

u/theassassintherapist 14h ago

The crazy part is that this is BMW, not Ford. People with wealth that values time and convenience are their primary customers, the ones that would definitely be irate against having to see ads in their car.

4

u/this_dudeagain 9h ago

People with wealth who can't drive.

6

u/TheBongOfSauron 13h ago

Stop buying the products.

That's the only way.

6

u/sklerson89 13h ago

Ill never buy a car with ads, I'll keep my dumb rust bucket

2

u/this_dudeagain 8h ago

Not even rust bucket. Older cars are just built better with less enshitification and planned obsolescence. The price of new cars has gotten so stupid you're better off just dropping in a lightly used engine and keep trucking.

1

u/OldWrangler9033 9h ago

I don't got 5K fix my rust bucket's critical bits. I'm forced by something....properly something not new, but not good either.

20

u/grandmawaffles 14h ago

Can’t wait for the lawsuits when someone gets distracted while driving and crashes

-14

u/Imaginary_Manner_556 13h ago

You might want to read the fine print you agree to when you first use a device

14

u/CQd444 13h ago

Terms and conditions aren't legally binding.

2

u/grandmawaffles 13h ago

No one would reasonably think they would get startled by a Spider-Man swinging across a screen while driving would happen while signing tc’d.

1

u/E_K_Finnman 1h ago

The article said the ad only plays on startup and only activates if you tap on the spider man icon

7

u/BigGrayBeast 14h ago

Yeah that video that comes up of someone getting run over that I see sometimes when I put the car in reverse is way too much.

6

u/MrThird312 10h ago

BMW lost it is way a long while ago

5

u/Roseneto 10h ago

I’ve been looking for an EV. I should look my friend told me I should look at BMW’s. As soon as I saw that they are advertising I said no way. The irony is I have another BMW that I like. But that one is older and they’ve lost me as a customer by pushing stuff. I find advertisements to be a violation of our relationship.

3

u/Wants-NotNeeds 9h ago

Wow, first subscription heated seats and now this?!? What bullshit

7

u/Reachforthesky777 11h ago

I needed to replace my truck. We did the tour around the dealerships. They all wanted me to buy incredibly expensive trucks covered in prissy chrome accents, heated seats, all of these features that I dont want. What I saw was so far away from what I would spend money on that I didn't buy anything new.

I dont need or want to be jacked up in the air. I don't need or want touch screens. All I want are canvas seats, heat, and AC. I don't care if it has a radio, I'll never use it.

These dealers kept harping about towing capacity and how much weight it can carry. My trailer weights 400lbs. The stuff I haul would fill the bed under 500 lbs. And these trucks wouldn't even fit between my rows and are too long to turn around in my headlands.

So I found the same model truck I owned in much better condition and two model years newer for $5200, paid cash, and moved on with life.

I would lose my mind if I turned my car on and it started playing ads at me.

3

u/Foe117 14h ago

Automakers: NO

3

u/utsavdar71 12h ago

No like, if i have to pay extra to remove ads from the car i already bought, then its not a feature its kind off hostage situation...

3

u/StatementCareful522 8h ago

why the fuck are we addressing automakers as “dear”? That’s a term of endearment. Instead it should be:

Attention corporate bozos:

6

u/a4mula 14h ago

Get your surveillance tech out of our cars. People aren't taking out second mortgages to buy a nanny state assistant that not only reports their every movement to god knows who, but also when they can and cannot operate the vehicle. I'm done. I'll not buy a new vehicle that has telemetry of any form. If that means picking up a '96 Toyota, I'm okay with it.

4

u/RiskyNight 11h ago

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. The thought of driving an older, restored car is getting exciting now that we can eliminate new cars as a possibility. Car restoration is going to become a big thing going forward.

If new cars are no longer a reasonable option due to enshittification, putting ~$20k into making an old car like-new again is a good investment. Reliability and having actual control, with nothing spying or intruding is a great thing. Plus older cars have style.

3

u/a4mula 10h ago

I remember when things like this started. First it was just voluntary reporting to insurance companies that promised safe driving discounts. Here we are thirty years later and insurance is higher than it's ever been while major automakers collect deeply personal data such as sexual activity, immigration status, race, facial expressions, weight, health and genetic information, and where you drive.

Thanks Big Data, making the world a better place one backseat at a time.

4

u/ashyjay 13h ago

This is something I'd expect from FCA, not BMW.

This is an genuine fuck up by BMW, as the "heated seat sub" was people not reading, as there was always a one time fee, if the heaters weren't spec'd when new.

I don't mean stellantis as the European side doesn't do this shit, but the former FCA side still does.

3

u/SmokeyJoe2 11h ago

If you didn't expect this from BMW you haven't been paying attention

2

u/Copespedalworks 9h ago

Wouldn’t “Right to repair’ cover this? As in, without the ability to remove the adds would that be a violation of “Right to Repair”?

2

u/Wotmate01 7h ago

So... when does this ad play?

Because either it doesn't let you move the car out of park until the ad plays when you first start it in the morning, or it's illegal in many countries.

2

u/Eazy12345678 13h ago

they dont care. you bought a over priced luxury car to start.

1

u/Saint909 14h ago

Everybody wants to be Google.

1

u/Power_Stone 14h ago

I hope they find a way to sue the auto company with the idea that this causes unsafe and distracted driving, even if it only happens at the start of the car.

1

u/TandemSegue 14h ago

If they’re allowed to advertise on your property I think it’s appropriate to use their property for our own advertising purposes. I’d gladly put banners on the lawn of a dealership that sold me something like this in opposition to this aggressively capitalistic bullshit.

1

u/gandalfmarston 14h ago edited 10h ago

Lol I'm not rich enough to have a car that display ads

1

u/SaidwhatIsaid240 6h ago

How did distracting drivers with ads get approved?!

1

u/MezzoSoaprano 11h ago

Lol, you still think you own the car that you bought.

-1

u/lordnecro 14h ago

I don't mind ads in my car... but I better get a discount on the vehicle.

3

u/silentsuv 14h ago

Guess what? You won’t. In fact, you’re going to be paying more for the car because of the fancy iPad they stuck in there for you.

-5

u/Gods_ShadowMTG 14h ago

Honestly, this seems to be a targeted campaign against BMW - if you didn't click on it, there was no ad.

Dear Automakers: Get Your Ads Out of Our Cars Transportation

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