Does advertising really work?

I’ll take it

Well William Shatner did convince me to buy a VIC-20 in 1982.

Absolutely. I drink so much beer hoping that a busload of 20-something hardbodies are going to come over and party with me, I've got "Dunlap Disease."

I usually skip it or look at my phone. Advertisements online work out f it’s something I’m already interested in.
Generally, it is if no interest to me and has zero opportunity to convince me otherwise.

I only have that immediate reaction to food ads. Damn, I fall for 'em! It doesn't matter if it's for restaurants or grocery store brands. But they're not totally effective because I sometimes buy a similar food from a different source.

It's the moment of indifference when you're shopping, when you're confronted with the choice of different brands.
They want you to recognize theirs and to associate something positive with it - worth the higher price because of the additional costs of the campaign. Markets with higher customer/brand loyalty (razors for example, but also in medication vs. generic drugs) usually have the higher marketing budgets.

What I really dislike are websites that have auto-play stalking videos, meaning that the video follows you as you scroll down the page. Some allow you to close the video, but some only let you mute it. There are some websites that I refuse to visit because I've discovered they stalk you with no option to close or mute it. Also websites that are so full of video ads that they slow (constipate) the site. Never going to those again...🙄