I'm not doubting the effectiveness of advertising, quite the opposite. Of course that if some players are advertising, anyone who isn't is at a major disadvanta

I'm not doubting the effectiveness of advertising, quite the opposite. Of course that if some players are advertising, anyone who isn't is at a major disadvantage. But cigarettes were a very good study in what happens if you remove advertising from an industry - nothing much. They get to save a lot of advertising money, and the industry itself may shrink if there is no real need for it (for cigarettes, it reduces the rate at which people start smoking, even if it doesn't significantly reduce the rate at which smokers buy cigarettes). Of course, people would still buy clothes and consumer electronics and cars if there were no advertising - these are all useful products. But most likely, the contrary of what you are claiming would actually happen: all these huge players would find themselves competing much more on price with small "no-name" producers if they couldn't sell an image of exclusivity, particularly in the case of Nike and Apple. Especially in fashion, most non-luxury brands are built entirely on advertising, as there is no real quality or style difference between them and by-the-pound clothing you get at thrift stores. So yes, prices may fall like dominoes, but only because the market would become more efficient, bringing prices more in-line with costs, quality, and utility, rather than "prestige".