No way dude. Ever shopped for a car, car insurance, mobile phone plans? I almost guarantee you that the first company you thought of was a result of advertising.
When I think of buying a car, I think of Honda. I bought Oldsmobiles because my dad did, until they stopped making them. Then I test drove a Toyota, because a family friend loved hers, but it was pretty ho-hum. Then I test drove a Honda, because it's the other Japanese car (which to me signaled high-quality, not because of advertising but because of the family friend's experience with her Toyota), and loved the transmission. Loved my first Honda and have had no mechanical failures, hence car = Honda for me.
My most recent car insurance was purchased because the banker at the bank where I met the guy selling me his used (Honda) car asked me, and I went with that one. You could argue it was marketing, but it definitely wasn't advertising--I had no idea the name of the company until I got the letter in the mail. I do think of Geico, but that's because I am a fan of Warren Buffett, and his annual reports constantly laud Geico. But the website requires you to request a quote, which is too much hassle ("if you have to ask, you can't afford it," I figure). After I have thought of Geico I think of the commercials, but that's not the order that advertising is supposed to work.
The first mobile phone plan I think of is AT&T because they were the only carrier with the first iPhone. (However, I did subsequently switch to Verizon because I had evidence from talking to people, especially my brother, that "more bars in more places" was actually true, so you could argue that advertising factored in there, but it was really more that T-Mobile had such terrible reception at my apartment and AT&T was too expensive, and my brother said Verizon was the only option in the middle of nowhere where he was living.)
Now I don't watch TV, don't even own one, so I will have less influence than most. But, still.
I don't know about cars, but for phone subscriptions and insurances there are comparison sites where you put in your requirements and just pick the cheapest. That's been at least my mode of operation for a number of years already.
My most recent car insurance was purchased because the banker at the bank where I met the guy selling me his used (Honda) car asked me, and I went with that one. You could argue it was marketing, but it definitely wasn't advertising--I had no idea the name of the company until I got the letter in the mail. I do think of Geico, but that's because I am a fan of Warren Buffett, and his annual reports constantly laud Geico. But the website requires you to request a quote, which is too much hassle ("if you have to ask, you can't afford it," I figure). After I have thought of Geico I think of the commercials, but that's not the order that advertising is supposed to work.
The first mobile phone plan I think of is AT&T because they were the only carrier with the first iPhone. (However, I did subsequently switch to Verizon because I had evidence from talking to people, especially my brother, that "more bars in more places" was actually true, so you could argue that advertising factored in there, but it was really more that T-Mobile had such terrible reception at my apartment and AT&T was too expensive, and my brother said Verizon was the only option in the middle of nowhere where he was living.)
Now I don't watch TV, don't even own one, so I will have less influence than most. But, still.