On July 27, 2026, BMW began delivering a full-screen advertisement for Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Brand New Day film to the dashboard Control Display of customer vehicles, marking a significant shift in the automaker’s post-sale monetization strategy.
According to BMW’s own PressClub release, the advertisement appears as a banner when drivers start their cars, which can be clicked to play a full-screen animation with backing music and an ambient-lighting light show. The ad has been available in more than 70 markets since July 27, 2026, scheduled to run through August 10, 2026, on BMW vehicles running Operating System 7, 8, 8.5, 9, or OS X built after July 2020.
The deployment contradicts a public commitment BMW made just seven months earlier. In December 2023, Stephan Durach, BMW’s senior vice president for connected company development, stated on record that the company would not sell in-car screen space for commercials, calling the car “a private space.” According to BMWBLOG’s reporting, Durach said: “To say I’m selling the screen to play a commercial. I don’t see it. It’s a private space.”
BMW characterized the animation as part of a “broader brand partnership” with the film rather than as commercial content. The company noted that several vehicles, including the BMW iX3, appeared in the film and that a special edition iX3 was featured at the premiere in Los Angeles. According to Deadline, this promotional campaign represents part of a record-breaking Sony Pictures partnership valued at $309 million in worldwide media value—the largest for any Hollywood film.
This move reflects a broader pattern at BMW of monetizing features and hardware after vehicle purchase. In 2020, BMW introduced a subscription charging drivers a recurring fee to activate heated seats already installed in their cars. Forbes described the subscription as controversial, and BMW abandoned it in 2023 after buyer backlash. According to The Autopian, this in-car advertising deployment represents a continuation of similar practices by other automakers, with Stellantis having deployed in-car advertising before BMW. The Autopian’s Jason Torchinsky objected to the practice on ownership grounds, drawing a comparison to unauthorized billboards on private property.
Key facts
- BMW delivered a full-screen Spider-Man advertisement to the Control Display of over 70 million connected vehicles starting July 27, 2026, running through August 10, 2026
- The ad appears as a clickable banner at startup that plays an animation with music and ambient lighting effects
- In December 2023, BMW’s senior vice president Stephan Durach publicly stated the company would not sell in-car screen space for commercials, calling the car a private space
- The Spider-Man campaign was part of a Sony Pictures promotional partnership valued at $309 million in worldwide media value, described by Deadline as a record for any Hollywood film
- BMW previously monetized vehicle features through a heated-seat subscription in 2020, which it abandoned in 2023 after public backlash