Touch screens are an inescapable feature in today’s new cars
Today’s motorists are living in the age of the connected car, where technology and touch screens are not only a feature of a car, but have become the vehicle’s functional nucleus. In many gas and electric cars sold on the market today, adjusting essential functions like climate control, heated seats, radio, and sometimes even child locks requires flipping through virtual buttons and layers of menus on a touchscreen.
With so many of the car’s functions solely accessible through the screen, it would be frustrating if an unexpected pop-up got in the way of adjusting the heater or changing the radio station. However, owners of Stellantis brands, including Jeep, Ram, and Chrysler, found that this hypothetical scenario was their reality.
This is a real photo from a friend pic.twitter.com/PU8xcd1qt2
— A GMN Ape (@AGMNApe) November 17, 2025
A super, super, special offer
In new reports published by The Drive and The Autopian on November 21, Stellantis has been pushing marketing advertisements to owners not by sending an email, text message, or by mailers. The multinational automaker pushed an ad about an exclusive special offer to its owners, in a medium none more personal and direct than their Uconnect infotainment screens.
A photo of the ad, which appears as a prompt window on the vehicle’s infotainment screen, was first shared by X (formerly known as Twitter) user A GMN Ape (@AGMNApe) on November 17, and has been viewed 771,000 times and received more than 3,600 likes as of the time of writing. Other netizens have shown the ad appearing on other Stellantis brands, including YouTuber and product review channel The New Guy Reviews, who showed the same ad formatted to fit the touch screen of his Chrysler Pacifica.
The ad, in and of itself, is to alert owners of Stellantis umbrella-branded vehicles that they’re eligible for $1,500 “bonus cash” toward a Jeep brand vehicle up until December 1.
STLA has been doing this for a while
This isn’t the first recorded instance on the internet where a Stellantis vehicle has served its owner a pop-up ad that took over its entire screen. Back in February this year, Jeep Grand Cherokee owner and Reddit user /u/RahRahRasputin took to the r/assholedesign subreddit to complain about a warranty sales ad on their screen. “Jeep puts an ad covering my entire screen, and it comes back every time you stop, even if you hit ok,” he wrote in the post.
In a statement to The Drive at the time, a Jeep representative noted that the issue the Redditor brought up was a “temporary software glitch” that was an isolated case.” They added that owners typically had the option to opt out of their in-vehicle messages and that Jeep “had already identified and corrected the error,” and were following up with the owner to ensure their issue was resolved.
Stellantis: In-car messages are an “important link” between the automaker and owners
In a statement from Stellantis seen by both The Autopian and The Drive, the multinational automaker noted that these prompts, which are called the “In-Vehicle Message (IVM) technology” are an “important link” to connect Stellantis and owners “at critical points in their ownership,” adding that they could be used to disseminate essential and critical information to owners quickly. “We use IVM to alert them to important messages, such as exclusive sales offers, vehicle recalls, and vehicle health monitor alerts,” the automaker said.
Specifically with this advertisement, Stellantis acknowledges that “a select group of owners received a special marketing notification in their vehicle” recently. However, they defend that it was a “tailored” message to “minimize any intrusions,” adding that the message popped up “only on startup and while the vehicle is stationary” and disappeared when cars started moving, when the driver clicked the OK or X icon on the message, or after 15 seconds.
They added that the message only reappeared at the next start-up “only if the driver clicked on Remind Me Later, or they did not click OK or X.” “Our goal is to deliver the best vehicle experience for our customers,” Stellantis said. “As a result of these efforts, we have seen our customers take advantage of this offer.”
Final thoughts
In the statement that Stellantis sent to both outlets, they said that not only do they “acknowledge that not every owner is interested in special offers,” they also noted that owners could opt out of these features altogether. However, these do require extra steps.
“Owners can always permanently opt out of in-vehicle marketing messages by calling Customer Care at 800-777-3600,” the automaker said.
Although it is important to note that Stellantis actually gives the option of opting out, the method does feel slightly iffy, especially given the fact that it requires owners to call a toll-free number and navigate an automated system. If anyone’s experience with a bank, airline, DoorDash, or cancelling a streaming subscription is anything to go by, automated “press X for Y” systems aren’t entirely seamless. Opting out of “special offers” could be simple and done on the screen with a little “don’t show me again” box.
Connected car technology is a fantastic feat; it allows automakers to perform over-the-air updates, collect important diagnostics, and Stellantis even uses the in-car messaging system to alert its owners about recalls. However, this situation goes to prove that not everyone is in on random promotional ads, which should be something buyers can opt out of at the dealer, even for a nominal fee.
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