It's evil because it's a systematic way of hurting large groups of vulnerable people.

When you're successful on a large scale at doing something that is not in people's best interests, then yes I would consider that evil.

Two charts:

x1: How much the product improves my life (judged based on how much I would be willing to buy it, asked after I acquired it)

y1: How much the product costs

x2: How much expendable income I have

y2: How aware I am of how advertising influences my buying decisions

Depending on where the marketed products/services and the targeted consumers land on these charts the answer to your questions may turn out very differently.