Of course it works. One of the longest running ad campaigns in history was also one of the most hated: the Wisk “ring around the collar” campaign, which went on for over 15 years. Everyone hated it. But if it wasn’t selling Wisk, why did they continue it?
The entire purpose of TV advertising is to make you remember the product’s name. Ad agencies know they aren’t going to convince people to immediately run out and buy their product.* Coke is one of the most widely advertised products in the world, but when was the last time you saw one of their ads and said, “I need to get some right now!”?
At the very best-case scenario, you may go out the next day and purchase something. But, more likely, you will be in a store and come upon the item and realize you’ve heard of it.
So if an ad makes you remember the product, then it’s doing its job. An annoying commercial may turn off some people (many of which wouldn’t buy the product anyway), but it makes the brand name stick in the mind of everyone.
And when people see the product a month after seeing the ad, they will remember the name and pick it up (if only to scoff). If the product looks good to them in the store, they will buy it despite hating the ad. Few people would say, “This is exactly what I need at a very good price – but I’ll buy the more expensive and inferior brand because they have better advertisements.”
A clever ad can grant name recognition, too, of course. But clever ads are hard to make, and don’t necessarily work (everyone loved the Joe Isuzu ads, but they didn’t sell cars). Everyone know that “Apply directly to forehead” ad** – it’s annoying as hell, evidently, but the product is selling.
*In general. There are exceptions, generally advertisements for a sale (“It’s Macy’s three-day sale!” “The Toyota Sales Event ends soon!”) or for items sold by phone ("If you call in the next ten minutes, . . . ")
**Except for me, it seems – I may have seen it once, and it didn’t stick in my mind then.