U2, BMW? Carmaker's intrusive movie promo 'update' recalls Apple's Bono bungle: 'This is crossing the line'

BMW is assuring its drivers that the company is not pushing ads on them.

Drivers of 2020 BMWs and beyond may have a different take, because since the end of July, there has been a sponsored feature available to them without asking for it.

'I hate this so much.'

Not an ad

To celebrate "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," the next flick in the seemingly unending franchise, BMW introduced "a special surprise" for its drivers: an ad.

That's not how BMW sees it, though. Though the short video features a new BMW model, shows Spider-Man on the side of a nearby building, and tells viewers the movie is exclusively in theaters, BMW assures its customers that what they are seeing is not an advertisement.

The animation is "designed to provide customers with optional themed animations and messages linked to a range of global and local occasions," BMW told Business Insider. "It is not a form of advertising."

However, the "animation" doesn't require the user to do any searching to find it. According to BMW's own press release, simply starting the car brings up a "special banner" on the display, which can be clicked on to start the video.

"This is crossing the line," one BMW driver said while showcasing the video.

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At the drive-in

Not all BMW owners will have to suffer through their friendly neighborhood superhero's appearance, though. Only those driving models capable of forced updates will see the video.

BMW says any of its cars equipped with BMW Operating System 7, 8, 8.5, 9, or BMW Operating System X will see the updates so long as they were produced after July 2020.

Moreover, BMW told website the Autopian that the in-vehicle animation is part of "a broader brand partnership with the film."

"A few of our vehicles — including the BMW iX3 — were in the film, and a special edition iX3 was featured on the red carpet during last night's premiere in Los Angeles," the carmaker added.

Author Jason Torchinsky went on to say, "No one needs to have this shoved at them in their cars."

"I hate this so much. Maybe beyond rationality," he wrote.

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A 2020 BMW 3. Manfred Schmid/Getty Images

Bono bungle

The forced injection of media is reminiscent of the great U2/iTunes fiasco of 2014.

U2 frontman Bono (Paul David Hewson) apologized to iTunes users at the time after his album "Songs of Innocence" was forcibly downloaded onto their iPhones and iPods.

"Oops, I'm sorry about that," Bono said, per the Guardian.

The singer barely offered any regret, chalking the move up to an attempt to parse through media "noise."

"I had this beautiful idea, and we kind of got carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that kind of thing. Drop of megalomania, touch of generosity, dash of self-promotion, and deep fear that these songs that we poured our life into over the last few years mightn't be heard. There's a lot of noise out there. I guess we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it."

The "Songs of Innocence" album went on to become one of U2's worst-selling albums.

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