VFRpilotpb, you say that the AA gets little from its sponsorship. In our neck of the woods the "ambucopter" (as the locals call it) is entirely painted in AA yellow with AA chequered stripes and prominent AA badges. In fact I thought it was an AA vehicle! And virtually every time I drive home northbound on the A1 (along with thousands of other motorists), that AA chopper is parked on the other carriageway dealing with yet another accident.
Seems like good value advertising to me.