Interesting take
(media.scored.co)
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Advertising is a necessity if your product is unknown. Nobody will try it otherwise. If you're trying to break into an established market, it's vital. Advertising is a psychological tactic meant to associate the product with familiarity in you brain.
If you go to the supermarket and see 30 brands of soda, you are likely to buy either a brand you've tried, or a brand you're familiar with. This familiarity is established by normal means (you've tasted it and know it) or by association, such as it being recommended to you. Advertisement is a proxy for recommendation and familiarity. Your brain remembers that advertisement and associates it with you "knowing" the product, which makes you more likely to buy it in a sea of unknown choices. This isn't the only factor that determines what you buy, but it gives an edge which is why people do it. Advertising also has other uses not even relating to what people buy, but that's a story for another time.
Also, there are no companies which do "zero" advertising, you just don't see it because you're not targeted. Products like Rolex and Rolls Royce advertise, they just don't mass market, which is the difference. If you go to places and associate with people who are in the market for these products, you will see the advertising. It maintains the brand, which is another aspect of advertising. You want people who already own your product to feel pride about owning it. Advertisements bolster that feeling.
MUG likely doesn't advertise because they've captured the market on cheap root beer. Their sales are fine, and they don't need to increase market share. Everyone is familiar with MUG because they've likely had it before, somewhere. Those under 26 probably have tasted it in their house when their parents bought it. It's a subsidiary of PepsiCo. (acquired in 86'), so it's not a flagship product and lives off the back of Pepsi. I haven't seen a Pepsi commercial in years either, probably because Pepsi is a Mega Corp which owns many brands. They're actually bigger than the Coca-Cola company, despite selling less soda.
Consuuuuume.