There certainly are other ways. It is a shame the world isn't a better place. Turn off your computer and get out there and get it done. Complaining because a company needs to align its investments with future growth doesn't help. Many companies only make plans for the next several quarters. It's actually refreshing when one does research that will pay off in a decade.

Why is that so horrible that marketing ad money pays for it?

And it's also not obvious that there 'is no other way to get there', but rather that way of getting there got there first.