Back in the days of over-the-air television I'm sure plenty of toys and foods were sold by ads. As a kid you saw other kids playing with GI Joe toys and think "I want that!" Same sort of thing probably happens in game ads now. Even as an adult I consciously resist ads but I'm sure I have become aware of a few products/services via ads and later purchased them.

For a business ads can be one of the best ways to make potential customers aware of what your business offers. But like anything else, ads can be too little or too much, in terms of both content and cost. And it's easy to get over-saturated with ads. Like YouTube when they want you to watch several ads for a 3 minute video. Sometimes the ads are longer than the video.