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Article Summery:
In a move that has left drivers both frustrated and bewildered, Stellantis has introduced full-screen pop-up ads on its infotainment systems. Specifically, Jeep owners have reported being bombarded with advertisements for Mopar’s extended warranty service. The kicker? These ads appear every time the vehicle comes to a stop. Imagine pulling up to a red light, checking your GPS for directions, and suddenly, the entire screen is hijacked by an ad. That’s the reality for some Stellantis owners. Instead of seamless functionality, drivers are now forced to manually close out of ads just to access basic vehicle functions.
One Jeep 4xe owner recently shared their frustration on an online forum, detailing how these pop-ups disrupt the driving experience. Stellantis, responding through their “JeepCares” representative, confirmed that these ads are part of the contractual agreement with SiriusXM and suggested that users simply tap the “X” to dismiss them. While the company claims to be working on reducing the frequency of these interruptions, the damage to customer trust may already be done.
The ad bubble needs to pop.
This is not that new.
Android auto would allow apps to play ads when the car was in park.
After using the ad support version of Pandora for most of a decade, when the full screen video ad popped up on my 2016 work truck, it was immediately and permanently uninstalled. I used 128gb microSD in my phone instead.
I’ve never used a streaming service for music again.
Yeah, that’s another thing that bugs me about products that can be remotely-updated and especially those which don’t currently represent an ongoing revenue stream. I think that it’s a broader problem, too, not just cars.
I was kind of not enthusiastic when I discovered that TenCent bought the video game Oxygen Not Included and started pushing data-harvesting updates into it via Steam. As things stand, that’s optional. But any company could do the same with other games and not have it be optional. If you figure that all the games out there that have already been sold aren’t actually generating revenue but do represent the option to push and execute code on someone’s computer, they have value to some other company that could purchase them and monetize that.
Then you figure that the same applies to browser extensions.
And apps on phones.
And all those Internet of Things devices that can talk to the network, cameras and microphones and all sorts of stuff.
There’s a lot of room for people to sit down and say “what I have is a hook into someone else’s stuff…now what things might I do to further monetize that? Or who might I sell that hook to who might be interested in doing that?”
Like, if I buy a product, all I can do when I make my purchasing decision is to evaluate the product as it is at purchase time. If the vendor also has the ability and right to change that product whenever they want, then what I’m actually buying is a pretty big question mark. And unless they’ve got some kind of other revenue stream on the line, their only real incentive to avoid doing so is the reputational hit they take…which for failing brands or companies, may not be all that large.
One constraint for efficient markets is that the consumers in it need to be informed as to what they’re buying. If they don’t have that property, you can get market failure. And a consumer can’t be informed about what he’s buying if the person selling them the product can change that product at any point after purchase.
I just decided I’ll never buy a jeep.
These kinds of decisions are unilateral. You don’t go in this direction without that being the overarching goal.
Zero tolerance for this shit. Put ads in something I own, and I’ll sell it, trash it, never buy it again.
This should be a death rattle for any brand to even consider.
Fuck Jeep.
We used to own a 2008-ish Wrangler, and it’s the single worst car anyone in my family has ever owned. There wasn’t one redeeming quality about this vehicle, except for that it makes you look like an asshole, and apparently some people are into that
What was the one with premium subscription for heated seats? I think it was Mercedes.
…and I think Audi dabbled in this area but backed down.
Ao that’s Mercedes, Audi, and Jeep I’ll never buy from, and obviously Tesla too.
EDIT Oh dear, it’s so much worsethan I knew:
https://www.google.com/search?q=car+companies+with+subscription+services
TOYOTA how could you???
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Clearly, the problem is that they went with a pure subscription model instead of also having an ad-supported model. Like, supposing that you’re allowed to turn on the seat heater, but then the car starts playing advertisements while it’s running. They could offer a premium seat heater subscription if you want to buy an ad-free experience.
shakes head sorrowfully
They aren’t very innovative.
Subaru does this.
But… but Stelantis is working to reduce the frequency of the ads! Don’t you know that the company that implemented this practice is witerawally powerless to stop it, they’re doing everything they can to make this change (that they made) better for EVERYONE, because they understand our frustration and they care 🥺👉🏽👈🏽
I’ll buy a jeep but it will have to be at least 20 years old.
20 is a funny way to spell 40.
Fuck it, I’ll only buy a Jeep that was used in D Day
All right, these are some pretty cool Jeeps.
I hate to make such a sweeping generalization (but here goes!), but many of the Jeep drivers I’ve encountered on the road have already brought me to the same conclusion.
You spelled concussion wrong
Can’t wait for the “the doors will remain locked for the length of the ad” update. /s
The horror I felt at reading this, and not in a sci-fi horror way. In a “watching Black Mirror from three seasons ago and realizing this will happen next year” kind of way.
“Volume control disabled.”
Then the windows all go opaque so you can’t be distracted by the outside world
Just like how tvs, phones and computers won’t stop ads until you make full eye contact with the screen with volume up. It’s not here yet but I bet by 2030 we’ll have must watch ads
A few years ago I left Google and ads behind for more privacy and freedom. I’m not having many regrets
I’m walking off into the woods if that happens. Dying in a week can’t be worse than that.
Bold of you to assume there will be any woods by then.
Please insert the verification can into your anus to continue your scheduled programming
Verification rake*
At that point we’re mounting mannequin heads
Don’t giv’em ideas…
Don’t giv’em ideas…
Luckily it’s a jeep, so you can just take those off.
The old ones, sure, the new ones would probably have a panic attack and throw an ECU tantrum.
For now, yes.
Truly, we have left the era of irony and entered the era of farce.
Peak irony is that the first ad shown is them trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty.
Life has transformed into a Monty Python sketch.
“Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python
The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974.
No, I believe that that was paid for by the television tax in the UK, rather than interspersed advertisements, as probably most television is.
I can’t wait for every vehicle to introduce this, thus leading to a perverse incentive whereby drivers go out of their way to avoid stopping as much as possible. How could it go wrong?
Just sit at the lights with the brake and accelerator pressed at the same time 👍 what could go wrong?
That would reduce fuel usage.
I bet that those ad guys haven’t even considered or promoted the fact that they can reduce carbon emissions.
It’s a Jeep thing, you wouldn’t understand.
NFT ducks in a gacha system
Completely unsurprising while at the same time completely unfuckingreal
That can’t be safe.
So glad my ‘98 piece o’ junk doesn’t have “infotainment”…
I miss cars that had a standardized compartment slot in the dash that allowed you to swap out stereos. Infotainment consoles are a choppy convoluted mess that distracts way too easily while driving.
I expect someone will start a business to remove that aftermarket
I imagine the manufacturers and their lawyers are why we don’t have greater access to OBDII and CANBUS info.
There’s a number of things I’d love to control via CANBUS, like the remote start system, climate control, etc.
There’s a program called Forscan you can get that allows you to tweak that kind of thing in Ford vehicles. I don’t know if other makes have equivalent software.
Burn Stellantis to the fucking ground.
Stellantis is fucking up so badly, they only have 1 car in top 20 here now. This is a Peugeot placed 19, but Stellantis used to have a couple in top 10! (Denmark)
It’s really sad, because they now also have Opel, which used to be a brand known for good quality, and I’m still rolling with an 18 year old Opel Vectra that is still going strong and drives almost as new, but this is a car from BEFORE Opel became Stellantis.
We are considering buying an electric soon, and there is NOTHING from Stelantis we are considering, because we have lost trust in them.
There are lots of bad stories with Stellantis cars here, cars breaking down and dealers not honoring warranties!! And extremely expensive repairs.
The only car that is worse is Tesla. With 30% failure rate at the 4 year legally mandated safety check!!This isn’t a new thing because even my decade old Toyota car with the SirusXM car radio automatically switches to the XM 1 radio station that advertises the SirusXM subscription service about once a month ever since I cancelled the subscription a year after the original three month one expired. Fuck that company and their monthly resubscribtion demand letters also!
Hmm. I think that this is maybe kind of a fundamental problem with buying something that you want to keep with attached hardware from a company with a subscription service that you don’t want.
