BMW recently found itself at the centre of an uncomfortable advertising debate after a Spider-Man promotion appeared on the infotainment systems of some of its connected cars. The campaign, created as part of a partnership with Sony Pictures around Spider-Man: Brand New Day, showed up as a banner when the car started. Owners could click through to watch the promotional animation, but the presence of the message itself was enough to trigger backlash from some consumers who questioned why a car they had already paid for was suddenly becoming advertising space.
The controversy is less about Spider-Man and more about where advertising is headed. As screens spread across cars, smart TVs, gaming consoles, appliances and connected devices, brands are gaining access to environments that were once considered personal or functional. The question is whether every new screen should automatically become another media surface.
The trend is not limited to connected cars. McDonald’s has also been exploring third-party advertising on its digital screens in the US, turning screens that traditionally served menus, ordering information and the brand itself into potential media inventory. For Amyn Ghadiali, Country Head, Gozoop Creative, the distinction comes down to whether advertising interrupts what the consumer is doing or appears when they are not actively engaging with the device. “If it competes with driving, navigating or the thing the screen exists to do, it’s intrusive,” he says.
That distinction becomes particularly important for connected cars. A dashboard exists primarily for navigation, controls and driving information. Turning it into another advertising surface changes the relationship between the consumer and the device.
“The moment an ad interrupts the device’s core job, it crosses from communication into intrusion. Context isn’t a nice-to-have anymore; it’s the whole game,” says Gopa Kumar, Co-Founder and COO, Theblurr.
The screen is not the permission
The advertising industry has spent years chasing consumers across digital touchpoints. But connected devices introduce a different problem. Consumers may have agreed to use a connected service, but that does not necessarily mean they agreed to receive advertising through every screen attached to it.
Bala Kumaran, Founder and CEO, BrandStory Digital, believes this is where brands need to be more careful. “Connected devices offer brands exciting new ways to communicate, but every available screen should not automatically become an advertising opportunity,” he says.
For Masuma Siddique, Founder and Chief Strategist, InkCraft Communications, the issue comes down to whether consumers have genuinely been given a choice. “Consent is not a checkbox in a settings menu that nobody reads. It is whether the consumer would have said yes if you had actually asked,” she says.
With India’s advertising market projected by WPP Media to reach Rs 2,01,891 crore in 2026, the incentive to turn every available screen into inventory is only likely to grow.
More screens, but what kind of attention?
But more inventory does not necessarily mean more valuable attention. Kaushik Das, Founder and CEO, AAO NXT, argues that the industry needs to distinguish between exposure and attention. “Reach has become the easiest thing in the world to buy and the least meaningful thing to own,” he says.
Ankit Patidar, Director and Chief Marketing Officer, Shakti Group, points that the distinction between access and attention is becoming increasingly important. “A screen is not the same as attention. In fact, forcing advertising into the wrong environment can create negative attention, which is worse than no attention at all. The future of media should be measured increasingly by quality of engagement, relevance and receptiveness rather than simply impressions or available screen time.”
The captive audience problem
Connected devices can also create something closer to a captive audience: consumers may not have chosen an advertising environment, yet brands now have access to a screen directly in front of them.
Gauravjeet Singh, Founder and CEO, Playo, says brands need to understand what the consumer is actually doing before deciding whether a touchpoint has value. “I wouldn’t look at a new screen only in terms of how many people it can reach. I’d want to understand what the consumer is there to do and whether the brand is relevant to that intent,” he says.
For brands, this could mean a shift from asking where another impression can be generated to asking whether the environment gives them a legitimate reason to be present.
Maybe the smartest ad is the one you don’t place
There is also a case for restraint. Advertising has traditionally been measured by how many people it can reach, how often they see it and what action they take afterwards. But as brands enter increasingly personal spaces, the decision not to advertise could become just as strategic.
Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru and Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., believes connected environments require a different approach. “Private spaces and private mediums must be allowed to be private,” he says, adding that brands need to soften advertising so that it does not feel like an intrusion.
The challenge, then, is not to reject these new surfaces altogether. Connected devices can create genuinely useful opportunities for brands when communication adds information, entertainment, convenience or relevance. As Kumar puts it, “Real incremental value means the ad fits the moment so well it barely reads as advertising.”
That may ultimately be the test for this next generation of advertising. Just because a brand can access a screen does not mean it has earned the right to use it. The industry might have more surfaces than ever, but consumers still have only so much patience.
