The sarcasm may not have been overt enough -- I personally find their reasoning dubious as well. One point. People who are advertising often aren't the same p

The sarcasm may not have been overt enough -- I personally find their reasoning dubious as well. One point. People who are advertising often aren't the same people who made the existing content. They want you to discover content you otherwise would not have come across. Hence, why they prefer to advertise and interrupt you. Advertising in general is a very big topic, one I personally dislike, but in general exposure to a message makes a person more likely to purchase something all other things being equal. I recommend you look into brand campaigns and anchoring. There are many successful campaigns done by companies for which consumers hated the ads; we should see one from a minor soda company at the super bowl, for example. Edit: I hadn't seen the SodaStream ad until now. It clearly fits the 'make products people want' category and is only derided by competitors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE9U4mMqKP4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE9U4mMqKP4