Roger Biermann is an automotive journalist of 13 years and has been the Managing Editor at CarBuzz since 2021. With no formal post-high school education, Roger launched his career as an automotive journalist by test driving cars at dealerships and putting his thoughts online before launching his own website in 2012 and running Torquing Cars until he made the move to CarBuzz full-time in 2019. He has been fortunate enough to interview some of the car world’s most impressive personalities, including Tobias Moers, Christian von Koenigsegg, and Frank van Meel of BMW M fame, with his interviews cited by a plethora of global publications, including Car and Driver, MotorTrend, The Drive, and many more.
When Ford filed a patent in 2024 for in-car pop-up ads, we in the CarBuzz office scoffed at the idea. We didn’t even cover it in an article, thinking Ford was protecting the tech but that it would never be brazen enough to use it. Well, the time has come when pop-up ads have become a reality, and it’s not Ford doing it. Not yet, anyway.
But it doesn’t matter which automakers are doing it, it needs to stop. We need to cut this off before it becomes a widespread problem. In the age of the information overload, this is a step too far, and it’s something we cannot allow to continue.
Jeep And Subaru Are The Early Culprits
We first caught wind of this in November, when Reddit users reported their 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee’s Uconnect infotainment flashing up with an ad trying to sell them another jeep. The pop-up window was labeled a ‘marketing notification’ and brazenly advertised $1,500 ‘loyalty retail bonus cash’ for owners of existing Stellantis products trading in and purchasing a new vehicle from the automaking conglomerate.
This was not the first time we’d seen such from Stellantis – the previous occasion had advertised extended warranties – but it had previously been stated that the pop-ups were caused by a software glitch that had negated the auto opt-out function. This time around, there is no opt-out button, and owners are given a 1-800 number to call. That number is a generic call center for general inquiries about packages, pricing, and extra for the automaker’s Connect services, and is not a dedicated opt-out line.
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Jeep’s pop-up is egregious enough, but Subaru has somehow taken it to the next level. As reported by The Autopian earlier this month, a slew of Subaru owners – across various models, including the Outback and Crosstrek – have reported push notifications in their vehicles from SiriusXM, advertising free access to the service. As it turns out, these have been appearing for a couple of years, now.
According to one owner, it’s appeared several times over the last few years, but “this last time was the final straw.”
“I have got this Sirius XM ad a few times over the last couple of years. This last time was the final straw as I almost wrecked because of it. My entire infotainment screen changed which caused me to take my eyes off the road and since I was going 55mph in winter I swerved a bit and slid and almost went off into a ditch. Something that would not have happened had this ad not popped up.”
– u/bajungadustin on Reddit
The user appealed to other owners experiencing the same to report Subaru to the NHTSA, resulting in dozens of reports made to the authority. According to Subaru, the ads only appear twice a year – around Memorial Day and Thanksgiving – and had not been an issue before now. The automaker claims it will be discussing the complaints in an upcoming meeting, however, pledging to “always consider customer feedback.”
Modern Infotainment Is Getting More And More Dangerous; It Needs To Stop
These sorts of pop-up ads go beyond merely being annoying. They’re downright dangerous. As in the case above, seeing something flash across a screen is generally cause for concern – normally reserved for error messages – and is a surefire way to distract a driver from the task at hand. That task, lest we forget, is piloting a 3,000-pound-plus steel, aluminum, and glass wrecking ball through society. Automakers are quick to pledge their dedication to safety, adding all manner of safety systems meant to compensate for or prevent distracted driving. But pushing pop-up ads does the opposite.
These pop-ups may only happen once or twice a year now, but how long before they appear once a month? And after that, once a week? How long will it be before they become brightly colored with flashing text like every other billboard or mobile pop-up advert? It’s a slippery slope. I remember watching Fifth Element as a kid thinking that the overload of billboards in the futuristic version of New York City was wild fantasy, but it’s now a reality. Everywhere you look, you’re bombarded by an overload of signage and advertising. The overload is real, and the distraction is dangerous. We don’t need that in our cars, too.
It’s one thing to get pop-up ads on your phone or while scrolling social media. I hate it, but I understand it. People have to make money, and advertising is the best way of keeping content free for people to enjoy. But there’s a difference between scrolling social media on your mobile phone and driving your car when an ad appears. The latter situation should never be a circumstance where such an ad appears.
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It’s quite simply not OK. It’s a heinous invasion of personal space that puts lives at risk. A split second looking away from the road is a split second a kid could run out to fetch a ball that gets knocked into the street.
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I’ve been saying for years that all-encompassing touchscreen infotainment systems with zero physical buttons for basic functions like climate control are a terrible idea for that very reason – they force you to look away from the road rather than be able to feel a button or a knob blindly. But sudden pop-ups are a recipe for distracted driving, and I don’t want to live in a world where this happens.
An Invasion Of Privacy
Even in its infancy, this is an invasion of privacy and safety and a step too far. You’ve already paid for your car, so why is it being used for advertising? This is different from a website where you might be getting free content in lieu of a few ads – this is something you already own. Automakers and their affiliated service providers have no right to bombard you with these ads in your personal space without solicitation.
It needs to end, and I only hope automakers realize it before it’s too late. As for how we can stop it, all we can do for now is report it when it happens. Don’t just tap that little ‘x’ to close the window. Report it, make it known that it’s not OK. Heck, if I were driving along and my car started flashing pop-up ads, I’d drive it right back to the dealership and return it. I guess this is another win for ‘the old ways’, but it makes me scared for the future.
Sources: The Autopian, CarScoops, The Drive
