With respect if I’m arguing for meritocracy then I’m clearly not arguing for other non merit based ways of recruitment or promotion, am I? In which case the point remains: recruiting and promoting - or advertising or anything else - based on anything other than merit is bad business (& bad in other sectors too eg police) - hence imo the rise of things like MEI.
People aren’t stupid. They can see when a system is being unfairly rigged.