About Advertising

There has been a thought buzzing around the empty space between my ears for a while. It has finally landed and I can put words to it.
In the 70’s, consider an industry with several prominent competitors. At that time, a lack of advertising was considered to be a sign that there was real competition between them. The thought being advertising could only be afforded by a competitor who was well ahead of the others, and that they had such a large portion of the market, that they stood to benefit most from the ad. In the absence of advertising, the impression was one of intense competition. None of the competitors could afford ads, nor be assured that they would benefit from any effects of the ad rather than one of its competitors. One possible trick is for a monopoly to never advertise, implying that there is genuine competition in its industry.
It occurred to me that simply refusing to do ads or assorted media buys could, by itself, be a significant statement. Course, it could also be taken to be the actions of a poorly supported campaign. Advertising could be construed to be an act of desperation in a lopsided race.
I do not know if my decision to not do media buys up to this point is correct, but we shall see.