Yes marketing campaigns do violate anti-spam laws.

It depends on the way the ad is worded. First, it must contain the letters ADV so it is recognized as an ADVertisement. Second, if you have done business with a company in the past few months, then you have a prima facie business relationship with that company, and that company and it's subsidiaries are allowed to send you e-mail advertisements just like they are allowed to phone you even if you're on the FTC do-not-call list. There must also be a way for you to unsubscribe yourself from the SPAM. Unfortunately, more often than not, most of these unsubscribe links are used as a verification that your e-mail address is "live", leading to more and more SPAM from other SPAMming companies. If, however, you have no relationship with the company sending the e-mails (i.e. cold contact), they are not supposed to send you SPAM e-mail, and the first one you receive is a reportable offense under the FTC Can Spam act and subject to a fine.

I don't feel this can be answered yes or no, because there are too many variables. For one thing, e-mail marketing campaigns are just another way of advertising, and advertising in itself is necessary to call public attention to a product or service being offered. It is a sound and legitimate way to do so. However, there is a downside to campaigns that take advantage of the consumer by advertising in such a manner or frequency as to be downright annoying. There is really a fine line between a legitimate campaign and spam. Some people believe that any unsolicited advertising is spam. My definition is that which is offensive and intrusive to the point of being obnoxious. Therefore, one cannot say that all advertising is spam, or that all spam is advertising. As for me, I like advertising that is low-key and creative. Then I might consider what is being offered -- especially if I happen to be in the market for it at the right time. I am not a spammer! I've never spammed anyone, if for no other reason than I have no product or service to promote. But even if I did, I am not the sort to shove anything down anyone's throat. I believe in free enterprise, but not to the extent that it invades people's privacy.

The answer is in how the email address was obtained. Antispam laws do not address the contents of the email address, but - rather - the consentual relationship between the sender and the recepient. If the two have an established relationship (for example a business rapport, past or present, or an inquiry on the part of the recepient) or if the recepient has opted to receive sender's offers, or offers from sender's business partners, there is no spam, so long as the recepient has the ability to "opt out" of receiving further mail. If there is no relationship (i.e. the recepient has never does business with the sender, or has never agreed to receive mail from sender's partners, or has never "opted in", or has never opted out, or does not have the ability to opt out) or if the address was "harvested" (taken from another place without the owner's consent), then you have spam.