If advertising wouldn't produce anything, it wouldn't exist. Your statement is quite common, but actually advertising performance is much more measurable than developer performance. Advertising is about to enable the right product to find its buyer. It is also financing the whole internet economy much more than the services the end-consumer think they use. Around social media I won't comment. Probably many companies are trying to get a footprint there. Nowadays more and more people are expecting Twitter support for example. Nothing wrong with this, I expect controlling will know how to limit expenses in this area to a reasonnable amount.

Advertising can add value to a company's bottom line. It's not always well-executed, but it can be useful.