I see ads for car, the main thing I use fb for is bicycle events

Is it really a false positive? I could see why car manufacturers would want to target ads at Cyclists.

the goal of those ads is not to change your individual behavior. It’s to produce small societal shift

But does it even work? I am not sure that there is any concrete proof that advertising is actually any good at making people buy more. I’m pretty sure that creating trends and buzz is much more efficient marketing than targeted advertisement.

That’s why “influencers” and other similar creators “tech reviews” for example manage to strike suany deals with so many brands. They have much more power over their follower (because there is implicit trust) than any standard ad can have, no matter how targeted.