Apple pushes ad for its new F1 movie via wallet app

Apple’s new Ad: Apple Wallet F1 movie ad has sparked controversy after users received an unsolicited push notification promoting F1: The Movie via Apple Wallet, offering a $10 discount on ticket purchases . 

The campaign, tied to Apple's heavy backing of the Brad Pitt-starring film, drew swift backlash from iPhone owners who accused the Steve Jobs-era giant of treating their digital wallet like an advertising channel. 

Critics compared the move to Apple's infamous U2 album giveaway, citing privacy concerns and expressing frustration at receiving ads through a financial app. With users demanding better controls, Apple now faces pressure to rethink its approach to in-app marketing and respect user trust.

What is it all about?

A controversy over an ad on Apple Wallet App | Credit: Apple

With Brad Pitt's Formula 1 film set to hit cinemas this week, Apple seemed to offer iPhone users a small incentive to watch the movie on the big screen. In theory, the move made sense. In practice, however, it sparked significant backlash from users.

Here's what happened. On Tuesday afternoon, several iPhone users noticed a push notification from their Wallet app. The alert was a promotion, offering a $10 discount when purchasing two tickets to the film via Fandango (like BookMyShow). 

The reason for the promotion? Apple is one of the film's distributors. As such, the movie is expected to become available on Apple TV+ once its theatrical run concludes.

By distributing these alerts, Apple appears to be going against its own App Store policies. Push notifications should not be used for advertising unless users have expressly consented to receive them, according to the standards. 

The guideline states that "unless customers have expressly consented to receive Push Notifications via consent language displayed in your app's UI and you provide a method in your app for a user to opt out of receiving such messages," Push notifications should not be used for promotional or direct marketing reasons.

iPhone users aren’t happy

As was to be expected, Apple's approach caused much criticism. Furthermore, the drama surrounding the incident is so great that it appears that the action backfired, even though we may be only hearing from a very vocal minority.

apple sending ads in push notifications pic.twitter.com/UpRUlPJYkT

— kif (@kifleswing) June 24, 2025

who approved this? ads from my wallet app? Oh hell no. pic.twitter.com/dU9O4O1LCM

— Sebastiaan de With (@sdw) June 24, 2025

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