It's easy to make a strong argument when it's also woefully incomplete. :P
If all advertising were just abstract economic information that a service or product existed with certain features at a certain price-point, then we're left with a whole bunch of inexplicable mysteries, including-but-not-limited-to:
* Why would there be some expensive messages that lack any of that economic information, such as those which show a succession of nice things (that aren't being sold) closing with a brand-name the viewer is already aware of?
* Why would senders deliberately seek to ensure that the same person sees the same repeated message multiple times, even after they declined to purchase the first time and their situation wouldn't have changed?
* Why would any info-packets be crafted to make previously-neutral viewers experience fresh fear and dissatisfaction?
* Why would someone spend unnecessary money on funny mascots or catchy music?
* Why would (where not illegal) the product have a time-limited discount that wasn't actually time limited nor discounted?
If all advertising were just abstract economic information that a service or product existed with certain features at a certain price-point, then we're left with a whole bunch of inexplicable mysteries, including-but-not-limited-to:
* Why would there be some expensive messages that lack any of that economic information, such as those which show a succession of nice things (that aren't being sold) closing with a brand-name the viewer is already aware of?
* Why would senders deliberately seek to ensure that the same person sees the same repeated message multiple times, even after they declined to purchase the first time and their situation wouldn't have changed?
* Why would any info-packets be crafted to make previously-neutral viewers experience fresh fear and dissatisfaction?
* Why would someone spend unnecessary money on funny mascots or catchy music?
* Why would (where not illegal) the product have a time-limited discount that wasn't actually time limited nor discounted?