Advertising can have no direct persuasive effects whatsoever and still be cost-effective.
Imagine that a new bank opens, promising exceptionally high interest rates on savings accounts because of their much lower operating costs. Their branches are converted shipping containers on vacant lots, furnished with cheap patio furniture. Their staff are dressed in jeans and t-shirts. They don't have a website, just a Facebook page. No sane person would deposit their money with such a bank. Why? Because this bank has made no long-term commitment. You have no reason to believe that they won't just run off with your money.
Until relatively recently, bank branches were usually lavishly furnished stone buildings with marble flooring, exotic wood panelling and opulent chandeliers. The immense cost of their furnishing acted as a costly signal that's difficult to fake - we spent all of this money on our bank branch, so you can believe that we're not a fly-by-night operation. Even to a perfectly rational customer, it's a strong Bayesian signal. Engagement rings serve a similar purpose - they're pointless and expensive, which is exactly why they're a meaningful symbol.
Expensive advertising has the same signalling value as opulent bank branches and engagement rings. If a company has saturated the TV with their commercials and sponsored a football stadium, they have a lot to lose if their reputation is damaged by scandal. They've spent a huge amount of money to make themselves a household name, so they have a strong incentive to ensure that they deliver a quality product. When you're in the supermarket, it's perfectly logical to buy the brands that you recognise.
General advertising works because it's a total waste of money.
My conclusion, having watched a lot of this sort of confusion over the years in researchers, philosophers, and thinkers of all sorts, is that there is a connection, but the mode of operation is very subtle, and what it's operating on is very, very complex.
It's like an alien researcher from a planet without computers even remotely resembling ours is trying to figure out human software, notes that '=' seems to be associated with the 'assignment' operation, then gets confused when injecting a whole bunch of '=' randomly into a codebase causes the program to stop, effectively suppressing most of the 'assignment.'
We're only beginning to scratch the surface on the human psyche and its interaction with culture.
Violent media establishes the first part of James 1:14-15 descent into sin and death:
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Sure, we have self control. But, you combine media priming + chemically reduced inhibition, and you get violence, rape, etc. That's why the Taliban would get all drugged up before facing almost certain death attacking a US base in Afghanistan. Perhaps also why these mass killers in the US have mental conditions, which reduced their natural inhibition against acting out their fantasies.