Brand equity — or retail rent?

What execs said. 486 of 2,592 dated calls promised brand investment — then the language faded, and a discipline story replaced it.

What the filings show. Ad intensity rose from 4.87% to 6.84% of revenue across 102 filers, 2016–2025. Advertising ran 3.9× R&D.

Retail media as rent. Execs paid the rent but barely named the channel — 12 of 2,592 calls mention “retail media”, while Amazon’s ad revenue doubled to $68.6B in four years.

Rent vs equity. The rent increase arrives dressed as efficiency.