I on the other hand know that they did get paid for these ads.
Of course they did. This is perfect ground for EA. Games which they sell over and over again to the same mindless drones, sitting their with their wallets open and a string of drool dripping slowly from their mouth. Bland games which bring absolutely nothing new to the table, just regurgitate the same thing with a slightly sparklier shade of blue this time around. This sort of thing is perfect for EA.
It's the brave/innovative/risky/controversial/niche stuff from independent developers ( which a surprising number of people claim to want to see more of ) which will never get anything from advertising. Yeah I can just see Casio stepping up to sponsor "Super Columbine Massacre RPG" ( as a particularly tasteless example. )