Virgin v Sky Advertising. Is there a need for this mass advertising campaign?

Over the last couple of months, many advertisements have been produced by Virgin Media and Sky trying to entice customers to subscribe to there services. The reason for all this advertising was due to a fall out in prices. Sky asked Virgin to pay more for offering Sky channels, in which Virgin disagreed. Since this fall out Virgin have decided to offer a product which rivals Sky. Mass advertising campaigns have been produced by each company trying to sell there product to customers. Millions of pounds have been spent on billboard posters, press, TV etc in order to achieve this. The cynic in me says if money was such an issue, why have they spent so much on advertising? And has advertising really been the most effective way of gaining new customers? I must say Virgin has persuaded me into looking into its service, but the jabs been made by both brands about each other has been rather like a teenage dispute. It has created humour and discussion, but it hasn't raised the profile or either brand for me.