Strategically Communicating

So, given that we face a tidal wave of commercial messages on a regular basis, I thought it would be worth discussing the fact that we are becoming less aware of when something is being marketed to us. In the past, American advertising looked like this:

Advertisers used celebrities and jingles to market their products, but the message was straightforward. Marketers communicated the benefits of their products in an effort to persuade the consumers to buy. However, as the frequency of advertising increases, the impact of straightforward messaging has decreased. Marketers are now forced to deliver their messages creatively or cloak their messaging through product placement or other forms of gorilla marketing. Now, advertising looks like this:

Consumers have forced marketers to be more creative to stand out. However, one of the responses from marketers has been to hide their advertising efforts.  Whether a character in a movie delivers a monologue in front of the sign of a major retailer, or Paula Abdul drinks out of a Coke cup on American Idol, we are being fed messaging in increasingly less straightforward ways.

Questions:

Can you blame marketers for being more creative with their messaging given the current media climate?

Is it ethical to try to reach the consumer’s subconscious?