Very interesting comments on ads. Ad-bashing is indeed too easy. But this doesn't take into account that brand communication may occur in very different forms. E.g. just imagine a company with a strong CSR-strategy launching a contest for the most impactful project to produce clean water. Doing so, they would incentivise good content and create steem demand by buying into the system. This are lines of thought we are following in setting up ImpactN - the first truly SOCIAL network for social impact.