Well folks, it finally happened. The screen in your pickup truck… your last bastion of peace from the chaos of unskippable advertisements… now plays popup ads. Not even subtle ones. We’re talking full-dash, head-unit-commandeering infomercial panels in your RAM 1500, like you’re driving a Times Square billboard on wheels.
It all kicked off with a Reddit post titled:
“What the hell? Now I have to call to opt out of advertisements in my truck?“
And honestly, that Redditor already did half my job by writing that banger of a post title.
What the hell? Now I have to call to opt out of advertisements in my truck?
byu/2dPlaceInTheArmsRace inram_trucks
Here’s what RAM owners are now seeing on their displays:
“CUSTOMIZE WITHOUT COMPROMISE. Authentic Mopar Accessories are designed to accentuate your Ram 1500 and fit your lifestyle. Contact [your dealer at their phone number] to learn more. To opt out of future messages, call [corporate number].”
To be clear: You cannot use the screen for navigation or music until you clear the ad. The best part? The cancel button lets you know that it won’t actually cancel this garbage ad, it’ll just remind you about it later.
What’s going on here? Let’s dig into it.
Stellantis: The Corporate Fingerprint on Your Touchscreen
RAM, like Jeep and Dodge, is owned by Stellantis, the multinational blob responsible for mashing together legacy automakers like Fiat, Chrysler, and Peugeot into one increasingly ad-stuffed entity.
New Stellantis Brands Keep Getting Popup Ads, Each Time with Different Excuses
It’s worth mentioning, just because it’s so lousy: Stellantis has addressed this ads push with a shifting mix of excuses.
On one thread, Jeep customer service staff described a new Jeep displaying 4 ads in 12 miles of driving as normal behavior allowed under the SiriusXM contract the driver signed, but that they were “working on the frequency.”
Then, Wired asked about the Jeep ads, and Stellantis spokesman Dan Reid responded that actually, no, that was not intentional at all:
“This is an isolated incident affecting fewer than ten [Jeep] vehicles at this time limited to the US.”
He continued, because Stellantis only hires the very best, to explain that Dodge totally does have these ads, and repeated popup ads on Dodge vehicles are 100% intentional, but that they only average 2 ads per year.
Of course, that’s not what we’ve heard from drivers, as we’ve reported on both these issues. For one Dodge Charger driver, they report getting an ad at every stoplight. So, dozens of ads a week, not just a couple annually.
Now, this policy-which-is-not-a-policy-but-is-actually-an-isolated-incident has expanded to cover Ram vehicles. Neat! Let’s see how that’s playing out with their sales numbers.
Ram Sales Are in Freefall
One possible explanation for Stellantis’s new ad-revenue hustle: desperation.
According to a recent CNBC report, RAM’s full-size pickup market share is down by more than half since 2019. Let me say that again for the folks in the back of the dealership: More. Than. Half.
That’s not a sales dip. That’s a high-speed come-apart.
Take a look at the full-size pickup truck market share trend since 2019:
| Year | Ram 1500 | Ford F-150 | Chevy Silverado 1500 | GMC Sierra 1500 | Ford F-250 Super Duty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 17.8% | 25.0% | 18.4% | 7.2% | 6.5% |
| 2020 | 16.6% | 23.7% | 19.6% | 7.9% | 5.6% |
| 2021 | 16.9% | 21.9% | 18.9% | 8.1% | 7.2% |
| 2022 | 15.9% | 22.4% | 18.2% | 7.0% | 5.0% |
| 2023 | 13.4% | 23.2% | 18.0% | 9.2% | 5.7% |
| 2024 | 9.3% | 22.1% | 17.5% | 9.6% | 6.3% |
| 2025 | 8.4% | 23.9% | 16.2% | 13.2% | 6.7% |
Source: Edmunds via CNBC
Note: Market share for 2025 is as of May.
It’s hard to imagine a major truck brand cratering that hard outside of Tesla’s “it’s bulletproof but only if you’re not looking” Cybertruck era. (Which we’re still laughing about. You can’t polish that stainless turd.)
Meanwhile, Toyota and GM are gaining ground… likely due to the fact that their trucks don’t force you to call a 1-800 number just to make the ads blocking the backup camera go away.
We Don’t Want RAM to Fail… Sort of?
Look, we like competition. We need competition. Who else are we gonna dunk on with our immaculately reliable, low-key sexy, Japanese-engineered pickup trucks? (This is a Toyota house, and yes, we will fight about it.)
But this? This is pure clown show. Ram *should* fail if this is their best effort.
If RAM wants to win back buyers, maybe start by removing the customer service phone tree blocking the map. And while you’re at it, make the ads go away. We came here to tow trailers, not watch trailers.
Stay tuned. If Ford puts sponsored TikToks into the F-150 center display, we riot.
