Tesla has partnered with its recent foe, Disney, to promote its latest movie, Tron: Ares, with an in-car update that is not making everyone happy.
Many owners view it as Tesla making in-car advertisements and/or working on something that distracts them from needed software updates.
Today, Tesla announced and began pushing an update to its car owners, which essentially amounts to an advertisement for Disney’s new movie, Tron: Ares.
The update enables owners to turn their in-car visualization into a Tron bike.
The update is surprising on several levels, as it essentially serves as an advertisement for a Disney movie.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, is notoriously not a fan of Disney and has even removed Disney+ from the Tesla Theater.
However, more importantly, Tesla is pushing advertisements to its vehicle owners inside their cars, and people are not happy.
Examining the first few dozen comments below the announcement, the reaction is mainly negative.
Tesla owner Matt Chinander wrote:
I’m sorry but this is an absolutely worthless update. Also, when did Tesla start partnering with woke companies like Disney? Didn’t Elon just go a rampage LAST WEEK against woke?
Tesla owners are also upset that the automaker spent time and resources developing this software update rather than working on more significant updates, such as delivering on its long-promised full self-driving capabilities, especially on older HW3 cars, which have been left untouched for more than a year.
Electrek’s Take
Yes, this is not a good look. This is definitely a promotional effort for the movie. The question is: Is Tesla getting paid for this?
Is it really pushing advertising inside its vehicles?
Even if it is a cross-promotional effort, it doesn’t look great, and it’s a clear step toward automakers pushing ads inside connected vehicles.
I am not a fan all around. The idea of Tesla pushing ads in-car is not ideal, and this partnership itself is a questionable move.
I loved the original Tron movie. Legacy wasn’t great, but the soundtrack was outstanding. That said, I don’t have high hopes for this new one based on the trailer, which looked cheesy. It currently holds a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The most disappointing aspect is that Tesla would spend any effort on this rather than on much-needed updates to its user interface and other software features within its vehicles.
Prediction: within the next year, Tesla will start doing this more often and offer an “ad-free experience” with its “premium connectivity subscription.”
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