Everything in marketing at this point is meticulously calculated to make you more likely to purchase the product. They've seriously got this down to a science -- that $hitty music that plays in pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS has been shown through studies to make a shopper more likely to buy. Notice how near the cash register they have stuff like Altoids, gum, candy, and bottled water. That's literally called the "impulse counter" because they're trying to get you to tag on a small purchase that you don't need on impulse. The whole "As Seen On TV" company is about making people buy essentially useless stuff for bloated prices -- and they're doing pretty well for a company that should not be in business.
If attack ads didn't make you likely to buy, they wouldn't use them.
If attack ads didn't make you likely to buy, they wouldn't use them.