Can advertising be used in music?

I took a class about visual communication, and part of the class was about advertising and how it's not only used on tv and the radio, but movies too... I was sitting in the car one day when Starships by Nicki Minaj came on the radio. I noticed she mentioned Bud Lights in the song. Was that a form of advertisement?

That's an interesting question! Advertising in music videos is obviously common. But throwing brand names into the lyrics has been around for a long time, especially in urban music.

The definition would probably be, did Bud Lights pay for her to put those lines in. If they paid her, it's advertising, if not, it's not. I think in most cases you will find the answer is no - "artists" would not like to think they are compromising their artistic integrity in their primary medium.