What you are saying is reasonable, but it feels to me like you put the burden of proof on the author of the article. The question is, why should we believe advertising works at all?
It seems like a a reasonable prior would be that telling people about your product who didn’t already know about your product makes them more likely to buy your product.
I think you can certainly make the case against the above statement, but I don’t know why you wouldn’t start with that prior.
That prior of course, doesn’t make a case for brand advertising, which eBay was doing, but that’s not what David’s objection was about.
It seems like a a reasonable prior would be that telling people about your product who didn’t already know about your product makes them more likely to buy your product.
I think you can certainly make the case against the above statement, but I don’t know why you wouldn’t start with that prior.
That prior of course, doesn’t make a case for brand advertising, which eBay was doing, but that’s not what David’s objection was about.