Earlier this year, drivers of BMW models built after 2020 were shocked to find that a certain web-swinging superhero had found their way onto their cars. In a cinematic setting, this could be quite exciting, but when you’ve forked out tens of thousands of dollars, or more, for a BMW, the surprise isn’t going to be well met.

This is because it was an advert for the upcoming Spider-Man film, despite being framed otherwise. It’s that bold step by an automaker to cater to adverts coming to infotainment, dashboard, and other car-connected screens that will almost certainly lead to more in the future. After all, the film did go on to make $2.5 billion worldwide.

An Unexpected Drop-in

Source: Unsplash

Drivers of BMW’s newest models in July and August will have just been cruising along as normal before a banner ad popped up on their infotainment screen. It read “Surprise!” followed by an announcement that the superhero was in the car. Indeed, it was a surprise for drivers, and as BI reports, tapping the screen led to a full animation and a change to the lighting.

The advertising campaign comes as part of a collaboration with Marvel and Sony Pictures for the new flick. BMW showed the advert to its thousands of drivers, while the film and the pageantry around its release featured BMWs. The movie came with a product placement for the BMW, and one was featured at the LA premiere’s red carpet.

The character is very popular and likely to have been a hit with many drivers in almost any other format. The issue is that drivers are getting unsolicited adverts within a product they paid a hefty price for. Ultimately, this is what irked so many BMW owners when an unsolicited advert landed in their cars.

Online, free information and media are supported by advertising spots, which is an acceptable trade-off in the eyes of many. Paying all that money for a new BMW to then be met with an advert that may not even be relevant to your preferences was never going to go over well with the masses. It’s also opened the floodgates to ads in cars.

Advertising Deals in Cars

Regardless of how well this move went over, over-the-air update access for these digital screens can now be leveraged by advertisers. It’s inevitable that more will come, especially as once-ad-free premium products are now embracing ad-tier options, like with Netflix and Microsoft’s gaming console.

Car companies can leverage this for additional revenue and, perhaps, bring prices down as a result. Alternatively, they could opt for more traditional methods that are less invasive in the increasingly competitive premium car market. After all, hiding ads in your car is hardly a strong selling point. 

In other very competitive markets, promotions, bonuses, and discounts remain huge selling points. You can look to the ever-expanding space of online casinos as an example. The deposit bonus casino UK players can claim is an entry bonus that’s followed by boosts for loyal players.

From the opening 100% match to the extras like Find the Golden Ace and 2K Leaderboards, the platform gives players a little extra for choosing it over the other sites. While ads may cut costs for BMW, increasing sales would surely be the preferred approach, which could be buoyed by discounts or bonuses for buyers. Perhaps add extras to the infotainment rather than ads.

BMW has labeled the advertising campaign as a way to “celebrate BMW’s involvement” with the film and said it’s more of an experience feature that creates a “sense of connection” to the movie’s scenes. It wasn’t that: it was an advertising slot, and it’ll almost certainly lead to more such collaborations for connected cars going forward.

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