I don&#x27;t have time to track down other articles, but if your point was that there are very valuable brands that don&#x27;t advertise as much as others, you are right.<p>However, advertising when you are a large brand serves a different function than when you are smaller. Large brands need to protect their position in the market, smaller brands need to drive sales.<p>My guess about your original comment is that you were exposed to Target back to school commercials recently and so they appeared like a larger advertiser than amazon or walmart who focus less on back to school.<p>The reality though is that advertising comes in many shapes and sizes, and is bought in many different ways. Limiting this to direct media buying is a little deceptive as some brands engage in PR and other strategies that serve the same goal as advertising, without paying a publisher for placement.<p>It isn&#x27;t an equal comparison to use direct ad buying as a barometer to prove that advertising just shifts demand and doesn&#x27;t create it, when PR and other marketing strategies are arguably the same exact thing, just bought in a different way.