BMW has begun forcing a promotional advert for the film Spider-Man: Brand New Day onto the infotainment systems of recent car models, sparking complaints from owners who see it as an unwelcome intrusion. On starting the car, drivers are shown a message saying Spider-Man has "dropped into your BMW," and clicking it plays an advert followed by a QR code directing users to a page for configuring a new BMW iX3. The tie-in stems from a scene in the film in which a BMW driver uses sport mode to help Spider-Man pursue villains, but the unsolicited nature of the marketing has drawn criticism online.

On Reddit, owners have branded the move "dystopian," comparing it to Apple's much-criticised automatic addition of a U2 album to iPhones in 2014, and have called for tighter regulation of in-car advertising. Although the ad and its accompanying Spider-Man app can be skipped or ignored, critics worry it sets a precedent that could make such intrusions harder to avoid in future. This is not the first time BMW has faced backlash over its approach to features on owned vehicles: the firm previously offered heated seats via a paid subscription before scrapping the scheme following widespread customer anger.