True, but don't you think the sophistication and frequency have increased considerably since then?
Add in the fact that it comes from complete strangers, and I think even if it's roots are way back in history, the modern environment is very different.
The kind of tribalism to which such advertising appeals is both millennia older than modern commercial advertising and has been a regular part of religious and political propaganda for millenia, which is where modern commercial advertising got it, not vice versa.