I completely agree. I feel this way for things that I think should not have to advertise. For instance, higher education. I saw a poster at Forest Hills 71 Avenue subway station for Queens College and now I feel like it is not a top class college.

I think my reaction would have been different of the ad was subtler though. Thoughts?

Ads for colleges in the subway aren’t meant for you, though. You probably already have a college degree and are well-educated. Those subway ads are for people who aren’t as well-educated, never went to college and are trying to fit it in between working, and wouldn’t get into a top-tier college.

Exactly. The top-tier college in the city probably has a subway stop with its name in it. Those ads are aimed at someone who doesn't have a college degree and/or has been contemplating doing something positive about their career. So part-time/night college, nursing school, etc. ads are there to nudge them and to suggest a specific option for them to consider.

I believe the thought was that if they were so prestigious they would not need to advertise at all. I have never felt this way about Universities, but I certainly have for defense attorneys.

Of course they advertise. They just do it in subtle ways called PR.

I used to do marketing for HE, and that always used to be the case - however the explosion in intakes has really skewed the market. Increase in tuition fees has also turned it into more of a transaction, so it's now less about selective prestige, and more about outcomes (which lends itself more to outward marketing than traditional reserved means).

There is, but will is different than ability - I've done work on brand perception studies, which look at both the positive and negative, as well as conversion data looking at online ads that work from a vanity metric standpoint (views/clicks) but don't do anything else.

A lot of brands will try and piece together negatives - if you want to help a marketer, fill out that NPS popup you see ;)