Is it a regression? I'd argue an ad in Times Square (or a reputable print newspaper) is a major upgrade from the cesspool that is internet advertising. Seeing an ad there signals to me that the brand has enough money to clear the huge barrier to entry (thus is unlikely to be a fly-by-night scam) and doesn't mind being seen by everyone. This gives me more confidence as a consumer to purchase their product.

> If you don’t want to be tracked stop using sites that track you

Can you even tell that before being tracked? The GDPR attempts to make tracking opt-in so that you have a way to consider the downsides before agreeing. There's technically no problem with targeted ads and data collection as long as users are given a clear description of what data they're sharing and how it will be processed.

> install ad block

The same people behind all this illicit data collection would rather not have you do that.