Why do so many companies overspend on advertising?

Companies overspend on advertising because it is the easy lever, and innovation is the hard one. I watch firms pour millions into media while starving product, experience, and reinvention. Ads work when they amplify something demonstrably better. When they paper over mediocrity, they broadcast it louder. You cannot out-advertise a product people have stopped caring about. Advertising may win quarters. Innovation wins decades.