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Apple

iPhone Customers Upset By Apple Wallet Ad Pushing F1 Movie (techcrunch.com) 59

Posted by msmash from the crossing-the-line dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple customers aren't thrilled they're getting an ad from the Apple Wallet app promoting the tech giant's Original Film, "F1 the Movie." Across social media, iPhone owners are complaining that their Wallet app sent out a push notification offering a $10 discount at Fandango for anyone buying two or more tickets to the film.

The feature film, starring Brad Pitt, explores the world of Formula 1 and was shot at actual Grand Prix races. It also showcases the use of Apple technology, from the custom-made cameras made of iPhone parts used to film inside the cars, to the AirPods Max that Pitt's character, F1 driver Sonny Hayes, sleeps in. However well-received the film may be, iPhone users don't necessarily want their built-in utilities, like their digital wallet, marketing to them.

iPhone Customers Upset By Apple Wallet Ad Pushing F1 Movie More | Reply

iPhone Customers Upset By Apple Wallet Ad Pushing F1 Movie

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  • Apple (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24, 2025 @02:43PM (#65473041)

    Is no stranger to pushy marketing. Remember when they auto-downloaded fucking U2 garbage boomer rock onto everyone's iPhone?
    And all the apologists said "well just delete it!"
    Thanks, I did, with all haste.

    • I wasnâ(TM)t happy about either of these but the U2 thing was a long time ago
      • You understand this is close to the exact same thing happening again presently?

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 )

          Unless you're arguing that they "gave" you the ad... no, it's not.

          It is, however, stupidly arrogant and likely counterproductive.

          • Unless you're arguing that they "gave" you the ad... no, it's not.

            Wrong. Whether Apple "gave" you anything or not is irrelevant - that fact they shoved something in your face without asking you if you wanted it is. And this is exactly the same type of arrogant crap, and you can expect more of this enshittification from Apple in the future, since Apple obviously has not learned anything from its past actions and blowback.

            Apple being Apple: "Think Arrogant"

        • Re: Apple (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Tuesday June 24, 2025 @03:19PM (#65473163) Homepage

          The U2 thing wasn't an advertisement - they gave away the entire album for free. It was Apple's iTunes equivalent to that little mildly hot pepper that Papa John's includes with their pizzas. Maybe you love it, or maybe it gets tossed right in the trash, but nobody ever stopped to ask if you even wanted it in the first place.

          Apple using their platform to plug their film that you have to go out and spend money on, though? That's a new low.

          • Re: Apple (Score:5, Funny)

            by zawarski ( 1381571 ) on Tuesday June 24, 2025 @03:22PM (#65473167)
            Free is still a lot more than I would ever pay for a U2 record.

            • Free is still a lot more than I would ever pay for a U2 record.

              I liked some of their older hits. Mysterious Ways [youtube.com] is still fire, and you can fight me on that. There were absolutely no "bangers" on that freebie.

              If it had been a greatest hits compilation album instead, I'd have kept it. I'm sure people who can't stand pop music would've still bitched and moaned, though.

          • "The U2 thing wasn't an advertisement"

            Yes, of course it was. It was an advertisement for music sales through Apple, and an advertisement for U2. Seriously, this is why consumers get taken advantage of, many are stupid AF.

            • Yes, of course it was. It was an advertisement for music sales through Apple, and an advertisement for U2.

              Ever actually tried putting music on an iDevice outside of Apple's ecosystem? It's a huge pain in the ass. It's not as if Apple really needs to remind their users of the only convenient way of getting music on their devices.

              If anything, the U2 debacle was like T-Mobile Tuesdays gone wrong. It was supposed to promote the Apple ecosystem to those who aren't already inside the walled garden. I'm sure Apple was expecting free PR about how much everyone loved their free U2 album, so to that end it was certai

              • Ever actually tried putting music on an iDevice outside of Apple's ecosystem?

                No.

                It's a huge pain in the ass.

                I used iTunes to do it once, that was a huge enough pain in the ass. It's also ironic, because I actually used iTunes on Windows as my music player for just a second, because there was one version that worked well and looked nice. I only had an iPod for one moment. I hated both the interface and the bulk of it, and got rid of it. Now of course I have a big bulky phone, if you count the case.

                I'm sure Apple was expecting free PR about how much everyone loved their free U2 album, so to that end it was certainly still a promotion

                I'm sure of that, too. But it was certainly still supposed to sell devices by reminding people that they could get

        • It's just a tech company violating all common concepts of consent and common decency in favor of them getting off on profit. It would be illegal to do that as a private citizen, but because they're a coroporation, it's perfectly legal.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        It was a long time ago, but as a curmudgeonly Apple user, that doesn't mean I'm not going to use it as a stick to poke in Apple's eye until the end of time.

      • I was on dial-up then and didn't appreciate that stunt.
    • It was a long time ago and all I had at the time was an iPod, and I vaguely remember having to actively request a download of the free album. I'm a U2 fan, so I was happy to get a free album, but it seemed like a strange promotion since most people have other favorite bands that are not U2, and it would have been a better promotion to give everyone a chance to download a free album from a band of their choice...but they didn't ask me....

  • force backfires for me (Score:5, Informative)

    by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Tuesday June 24, 2025 @02:46PM (#65473043)

    Pushy marketing always backfires for me. The more they push the less I want.

  • Doesn't look like they learned from that debacle a few years ago....

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Sloppy ( 14984 )

      Last I heard, Apple sales haven't plummeted and thrown them into bankruptcy, so it sounds like they learned the lesson just fine: it's fine to show people ads. People might complain a little bit, but they won't stop buying. Cost is $0 and ad revenue is presumably more than $0.

      If someone is stuck with your proprietary software and you aren't showing them ads, then you're leaving money on the table. What're they gonna do, fork it out?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by smap77 ( 1022907 )

        Apple has ~$30 Billion USD in Cash. Operating Expenses of ~$15 Billion.

        You should start hearing things more often. Apple is nearer to being net-cash neutral (i.e cash=debt) than debts>ability to pay debts. Where "nearer" is not even in the same novel, let alone the same sentence.

        https://www.apple.com/newsroom... [apple.com]

  • Just can't see how any person at Apple thought a push notification from Wallet with an ad was a good idea, ever.

    They already have strict guidelines around push notifications that you are not supposed to use them as ads, so Apple breaking this rule is especially egregious for all of those that try and follow Apple's development rules.

    I wonder who actually got these notifications though, as I never saw one and I use Wallet pretty heavily - I may just have missed it though, since it seems like a lot of people

    • I haven't seen the push promotion either...maybe you have to have a Fandango account or something?

      I do try to turn off most notifications, but Wallet is one I have on as it is useful for tracking expenses & purchases, but if they start using it for ads, I will be done with it altogether.

      • I don't have a Fandango account and I received it. If I hadn't read about it before I opened the wallet I would have thought my phone had been infected by malware somehow.

    • I received it. [imgur.com]

    • >you are not supposed to use them as ads

      They actually got rid of that rule a while back after developers pointed out that Apple is constantly using push notifications for ads, so it was quite hypocritical for them to not allow others to do the same.

      Personally, I wish the rule remained and Apple would adhere to it too.

    • If, for no other reason, then because a payment system is simply an inappropriate mechanism for conducting advertising......even if the recipients didn't mind in the slightest.

      Wallet is an important app. Its financial. When it notifies me about something, that notification should also be important. Pushing trivial bullshit through it, like ADVERTISING A FUCKING MOVIE, works toward teaching people to ignore messages from Wallet, or even turn them off entirely.

      What's next? Vanguard sending me important messa

  • This is why we can't have nice things. I'd like to not carry a wallet, but I refuse to have my credit card arguing with me about what to buy.
    • Funny thing about not carrying a wallet or cash. The power went out almost everywhere in this area last week and while the grocery store still had power and working checkouts, the payment processing system was down - if you didn't have cash you went hungry.

      We rely way too much on phones now. If networking goes down most people are simply screwed.
      • Nah. Not hungry. Just the five finger discount.

      • That's why everyone needs to smoke marijuana: so that they'll get into the habit of carrying around some cash for dispensaries. Then, in a pinch, it can be temporarily diverted to groceries for emergencies.

        As long as people are careful to replenish the drug fund once the power and networks come back, everything will be fine. We just don't want them blowing all their money on groceries. Feed your family responsibly!

        • That's why everyone needs to smoke marijuana: so that they'll get into the habit of carrying around some cash for dispensaries.

          And double your risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke [independent.co.uk]. And this includes edibles [cnn.com].

        • That's why everyone needs to smoke marijuana: so that they'll get into the habit of carrying around some cash for dispensaries.

          But then you'll have hobos hitting you up for cash and pot. I quite enjoy telling 'em that unless they have a NFC reader in their shopping cart, they're SOL because I don't carry cash.

          I once heard someone say that the homeless in Cali sometimes do actually have credit card readers. ChatGPT confirmed this, for what that's worth. This trend thankfully has not made it to Florida, yet.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Rinnon ( 1474161 )

          That's why everyone needs to smoke marijuana: so that they'll get into the habit of carrying around some cash for dispensaries.

          If by "everyone" you mean folks who don't live somewhere where dispensaries accept all major credit cards... then sure I guess.

      • The power went out almost everywhere in this area last week and while the grocery store still had power and working checkouts, the payment processing system was down - if you didn't have cash you went hungry.

        No, they'd just lose my business. Starlink is a thing now, and there's really no excuse for a major business to not be able to get their payment systems back up and running as long as they have power. Anytime a store has ever told me "Sorry, cash only" (which admittedly, is a situation I haven't even encountered in recent years, even after a hurricane), my answer is "Fine, I'll go somewhere else."

        • In my case if I went across the street to Walmart, their power was completely out so they were closed (and lost their entire inventory of refrigerated product along the way).

          and when the network itself is down, there is no where to go, everyone will be down. It's a terrible single point of failure, it's not a matter of 'if' but 'when' such an event occurs since most tech is now built on a house of cards. Just look at the cloud hosts, I think it was amazon or google had temporary misconfiguration and the

          • Well, there's far more motivation to fix things quickly when it's the entire network that's down and not just some Walmart that's offline because their telco equipment filled with storm water. It will almost certainly be working again long before anybody actually starves.

            Worst case (and perhaps I should've said this in my original reply to avoid drawing the ire of the luddites with mod points), I still have a good old fashioned checkbook. Usually, assuming you're buying actual groceries and not a 70" TV a

        • As if the checkout clerk gives a fuck what you buy, where you buy it, or that you're going to go somewhere else.

  • Since Europe seems intent on cutting off the lucrative "Apple tax" on appstore, they are probably trying to see where else they can make some $$. Pushing these ads periodically and observing the amount of pushback. Once pushback subsides - they know they can start running ads and taking in some sweet ad revenue. (And then, a "premium" subscription without ads next)

  • There once was a time when I understood why someone wanted Apple. They're looking to become more ike a Microsoft in designer outfit now.
    Major plot twist.

  • Well Fuck You!!
    We're Apple.

    If we say you're going to drink warm piss, you'll drink it.
    If we say warm Apple piss is more expensive than Android piss, you'll pay for it.
    Open wide and enjoy your fucking 100% dependency on us.

  • If you're not paying, you're the product. Apparently, with Apple, even though we're paying, we're still the product.

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