Plus: DoorDash adds storefront for awkward buys; New York Times pushes more video after search traffic decline.
Some BMW owners were surprised to see Spider-Man dart across their car dashboards in a “brand experience” that’s helping promote the latest film. But so far, it has not gone well.
The New York Post reports that the automaker is facing backlash after displays of the Marvel character were seen across customers’ personal infotainment screens, which has been described on social media as invasive.
Clicking the ad launches a full-screen animation with music and, in some models, synchronized interior lighting. There is no way to turn off the appearance of Spider-Man, though the full ad will only play when tapped. The activation is a part of BMW’s collaboration with Sony Pictures and will run until Aug. 10.
While the company described the activation as more of an immersive brand experience than an ad, people aren’t buying it.
“Paying 50-100k for a car, yet still getting ADs,” one Reddit user wrote. “Next we need adblocker for cars.”
BMW previously said it didn’t see a time when placing ads in its vehicles would be necessary.
“To say I’m selling the screen to play a commercial — I don’t see it,” BMW’s Stephan Durach said in December 2023, the outlet reports. “It’s a private space.”
In a statement to Business Insider, BMW said the display is “designed to provide customers with optional themed animations and messages linked to a range of global and local occasions. It is not a form of advertising.”
Why it matters: A car dashboard is different from Instagram or billboard. People see their cars as personal spaces, and BMW had publicly recognized it in the past.
There’s also a language problem here. BMW called it a brand experience, but customers aren’t perceiving it that way. Arguing over that definition risks making the company sound out of touch with the actual complaints.
Just because a brand sees a new opportunity through a connected product channel doesn’t mean customers gave permission to be marketed to there. The closer that channel gets to someone’s private space, the higher the bar should be for consent.
As Edgar Dworsky, founder of ConsumerWorld.org and a former assistant Massachusetts attorney general who worked in consumer protection, told The Post: “Drivers don’t expect to be subjected to video advertising in the privacy of their own car and they shouldn’t be.”
What is DoorDash’s new CringeMart about?
DoorDash is leaning into purchases people would rather make without an audience. The company launched CringeMart, an in-app storefront for products tied to those more awkward needs, from UTI tests and laxatives to condoms and hemorrhoid cream. Each are categorized with humorous subsections like “Go Piss Girl” and “U Up?”
DoorDash says the idea came from real customer behavior as more than 4 million people used the platform for these kinds of purchases between April 2025 and April 2026.
“The most ‘cringe’ purchases are usually the most relatable,” said Zaria Parvez, DoorDash’s head of brand social. “There’s nothing actually ‘cringe’ about any of these items, but buying them can still feel that way.”
DoorDash has smartly used its product data to launch the offering, providing people something useful while being humorous and relatable about it.
As Parvez put it, “CringeMart is DoorDash’s way of saying we get it, and we’ve got you, no questions asked.”
For other brands, this is a good reminder to look at your audience’s behavior and find the gaps. Where can you be useful?
How is The New York Times adjusting for lower search traffic?
Like many others, The New York Times is feeling the effects of declining search traffic. Nieman Lab reports The Times added 280,000 digital-only subscribers in the second quarter, down from 310,000 in the first quarter.
To adjust, they’re now producing thousands of new videos, adding video journalists and recently launched a Shows tab in its main app.
CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said the goal is to “make the Times as preferred a brand for watching the news as it is for reading and listening.”
That includes more videos with reporters explaining their journalism directly to viewers, a format she called “inherently humanizing and trust building.”
If a brand as recognizable as The New York Times can’t count on search to deliver the traffic it once did, other organizations shouldn’t either.
Build formats and channels that give audiences a reason to seek out your brand directly, whether that’s through video, newsletters, podcasts, apps or creator-led content. Putting real people front and center is also smart. In a search environment increasingly filled with AI summaries, recognizable experts and human voices can give audiences something they can’t get from a search inquiry.
Why was Meta sued?
Meta has been ordered to pay $567 million and make changes to Facebook and Instagram after a New Mexico judge found the platforms harmed children’s well-being, according to NPR.
The money will largely fund mental health treatment and services for young people. The ruling also requires new limits on teen use, notification restrictions, stronger protections against adults contacting minors and safeguards around AI chatbots. This comes on top of a $375 million jury verdict against Meta in March.
Meta plans to appeal, saying: “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”
We’re seeing a precedent being set here. Courts are increasingly scrutinizing the actual design of social platforms and ordering companies to change how they work. Saying a company takes safety seriously has less weight when regulators and courts are examining whether the product itself supports that message.
Meta’s response sticks to its established defense, but with more youth-safety cases ahead, organizations and platforms will be expected to take verifiable action alongside statements about commitment and responsibility.
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