It would be interesting to be able to define if an advertisement is still an advertisement in the sense the OP was referring if it is something sought out.

I myself usually choose to watch trailers for movies, look at job ads and housing ads when I actually want to watch a movie, change job or move house. What pisses me off is the 99% of ads in my life that are just blasted in front of me online and in public.

It's probably silly and the answer is just that they are, but they at least meet two different types of advert to me, personally.

I would partially agree with OP in that I can't believe any adverts I've ever seen have influence a purchase from me. I actually quite often blacklist brands and products for aggressively marketing to me.