Imagine driving down the road in your car and stopping at an intersection. The moment you do, an ad pops up on your dashboard, covering your GPS and forcing you to close it. Then you stop again and it happens again. And again. Well, that scenario has been happening to numerous Jeep owners recently and is a great reminder of how the future is a tech-dystopia nightmare.
As reported by...Kelly Blue Book (that’s probably a first for Kotaku), a number of Jeep owners have been complaining about excessive pop-up ads. All of the ads are reportedly from Jeep and are asking people if they want an extended car warranty.
“Purchase Peace of Mind,” says the pop-up ad as reported by users on Reddit. “FlexCare Extended Care Premium plans are factory backed and offer you Peace of Mind in case of a mechanical breakdown. Press the Call button to speak to a specialist. Odometer must be less than 36,000 miles to purchase.”
At this point, users can hit OK or a big X in the top right corner to remove the ad and actually see their dashboard monitor again. However, people have claimed that the ad appears again the next time they stop.
TheDrive.com reached out to Jeep about the annoying ads and was told that the problem was the result of a software glitch that has since been fixed.
This was an in-vehicle message designed to inform Jeep customers about Mopar extended vehicle care options. A temporary software glitch affected the ability to instantly opt out in a few isolated cases, though instant opt-out is the standard for all our in-vehicle messages. Our team had already identified and corrected the error, and we are following up directly with the customer to ensure the matter is fully resolved.
The irony of a software bug trying to sell you a warranty in case your Jeep stops working properly. And to do so via annoying ads. I mean, what a horrible way to try and make money! Covering something valuable up with ads! Gross. Hopefully, this glitch is fixed and people can get back to looking at all the other ads that cover your car’s dashboard screen instead.
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