A lot of small businesses do seem to do the brand-awareness thing as well, but on a smaller scale, e.g. local TV affiliates. One classic is the annoying/insane mattress salesman with a ridiculous ad that replays constantly, not really to get you to go buy a mattress now, but to build name recognition so that the next time you do need one, you remember that Crazy Uncle Bob's Mattress Emporium exists.
I actually believe the ubiquitous "crazy local salesman" is less about brand awareness, and more about demonstrating a unique selling proposition - even if you know about the crazy mattress salesman down the street, you can still order a mattress online just as well. But you can only interact with a completely hilarious insane person if you stop by the store.
Yes, but as you said yourself it is local (targeted). Also, those ads usually have very precise call to action and very often are connected with current offer/sale/etc. They're also specific to US - very hard to find anywhere else in the world.
