In-Car Ads Are Here, and Automakers Need to Stop

We often publish looks at future cars, and these are usually a pretty clear-cut glance ahead at the vehicles coming soon. Every SUV, car, and truck we cover generally promises the latest technology at its price point, including driver assistance, autonomous driving, performance, efficiency, user interfaces, and augmented reality. This year, though, feels different. Technology in new cars is beginning to seem less like it’s designed to make the owner’s life better and more like it’s designed to extract more money from them. Case in point: BMW’s in-car advertising.

What began as an Easter egg has become a Trojan horse. For years, automakers have used the built-in wireless modems to send mundane software updates plus useful new features and, occasionally, fun little gimmicks. Everyone got a kick out of those Tesla holiday programs that blinked the lights and opened doors to a festive song played on the stereo. It was harmless fun. But now, BMW—infamous for once trying to make heated seats a subscription-based service—had to come and ruin it with an in-car ad disguised as an innocuous video.

We hoped the Bavarians would’ve learned from the heated-seat debacle that customers really don’t want to pay extra for things they already own, but instead, the company seems to have only learned to be sneakier. The ad in question is for the latest Spider-Man movie, which features heavy BMW product placement. It’s presented to owners like any other special video or message from the automaker, with a pop-up notification on the center screen that offers the option of opening and watching or dismissing. Thank goodness, you still have the choice.

Still, the very idea of using in-car screens to play ads is obviously tempting the MBAs in Munich, and it’s absolutely repulsive to us. Worse is the realization that not only are you being fed advertising in a car you’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars for, but it’s also being downloaded via the dedicated in-car wireless plan you’re required to pay for in order for many of the top features to function. In other words, you’re essentially paying BMW to upload ads to your car.

Regrettably, none of this is surprising. Automakers around the world have rubbed their hands publicly at the idea of selling subscriptions and extra-cost features long after the initial sale is complete. It goes by the sassy acronym “SaaS,” subscription as a service, and cars are only its latest victims. In this potential future, you’ll never truly own all your car’s features; you’ll rent them for a fee.

Thankfully, there’s still time to stop it. Overwhelming negative feedback cowed BMW into canceling the subscription seat heaters, and the same can happen to in-car ads. It’s exhausting beating back endless schemes to make you subscribe to things that used to be included in the purchase price, and it feels like it’s only getting worse.