I'm with you on the slow-burn to success part possibly, but the bolded? Lmao. No. No, they aren't. I know a lot of gamers that don't even know this game is a thing. How would they? I couldn't get away from Guardians... almost literally everywhere I turned... TV, billboards, magazines, even a few radio spots... Guardians was everywhere. Splatoon? No way.
I haven't seen a single commercial, or an ad. I think it depends on what people determine to be a "flop," honestly. I don't expect this game to sell extremely well though. I'm on the edge of buying it, waiting on the Direct.