Paying other companies for advertising on their platforms meanwhile they are paying someone else, and that third party is paying us.
All three marketing departments probably get a net 0 value from it, all three marketing departments get to report their budget spends and not get defunded, meanwhile producing nothing concrete of value.
But if you've heard of something like QVC, or have an approximate idea of the revenue generated by the advertising industry and the humility to think all of their customers can't be wrong, you should be able to dispose of the notion that you're pushing here.
Yeah, some people waste money on advertising. For some others, it's a money printing machine. Shrug
You want proof that advertising works? Facebook's revenues last year were $85 Billion, mostly from advertising. And it's growing every year. Merchants wouldn't be spending that kind of money over a sustained period if they were seeing negative ROI on their ad spend.
Not all advertising is educational.
that's the only time i was consciously effected by advertisement, but i also suspect the mind bending happens so much on a sub-conscious level.