No, because ad-spend there was zero sum. If their competitors were going to advertise on TV, they had to too, and that made everyone make less money. It was a coordination problem that the government solved for them by banning it.

This is a fair point - I’m not saying it’s a bad thing that businesses follow along with societal change even if for profit, but I do think we give them too much credit for when they do act this way as if it’s entirely benevolent.