'Spider-Man: Brand New Day', BMW confirm full-screen in-car ads

Beamers (BMW owners) are in a rage to see a Spider-Man movie ad on the main Control Display. The full-screen animation sparked criticism that German automakers are turning their private cars into advertising space, without any option to skip the ads.

The new Spider-Man: Brand New Day ad has sparked criticism against German automaker BMW, as they are concerned that the company is treating the car as its advertising space.

An Andreessen Horowitz partner, Josh Elman, noted, “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”.

In a statement to The Autopian, BMW confirmed that the ads are real, serving as part of “a broader brand partnership” with the new Marvel movie. BMW’s own announcement also confirms that the ads are running from July 27th until August 10th, and revealed how widespread they are, “These festive animations will be available in more than 70 countries worldwide for vehicles equipped with the relevant optional equipment and BMW Operating System 7, 8, 8.5, 9 or BMW Operating System X, as well as a production date after 7/2020.”

Tapping on the ad displays a full-screen animation of Spider-Man swinging around BMW’s iX3 electric SUV, complete with music, and even a “light show” if your car has an ambient lighting system. If you choose not to play the ad immediately, it’ll be added to the infotainment display as an app that you can view later.

While the animation itself doesn’t play automatically, BMW owners across social media are understandably disgruntled about advertising content being funneled into vehicles they’ve paid for, especially given BMW Group’s Senior VP, Stephan Durach, explicitly said the company wouldn’t do so. BMW has released seasonal display animations for Halloween and Christmas before, but referring to these Spider-Man ads as “festive” is really taking some liberties.

We’ve seen similar behavior from Stellantis in the past, with pop-up ads appearing in Jeep, Ram, and Chrysler vehicle displays, but it’s surprising to see a luxury car maker like BMW following that precedent. Then again, this is the same company that tried to charge its customers a monthly subscription to use heated seats that were already installed, so maybe it isn’t that surprising.

Seems crazy.

The movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day paid BMW to take over the display of every BMW made after 2020.

When you start a BMW, it shows you an ad for Spider-Man. Really cheapens BMW imo. https://t.co/ylW3Jgearw pic.twitter.com/OWBBVTMMP3

— Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) August 3, 2026

'Spider-Man: Brand New Day', BMW confirms full-screen in-car ads