The New York Times' tennis expert Ben Rothenberg led the questioning surrounding the marketing strategy.
It came after Sharapova's distinctive shrieking grunts became one of the big talking points to emerge from her fourth round loss to Aussie Barty.
Sharapova was eventually booed out of the Open, where the Melbourne Crowd turned on her for taking a seven minute bathroom break following Barty's taking of the first set.
Before Sharapova was put on a collision course with Barty, the same billboard was much more Sharapova friendly.
Unfortunately, the Russian's threat to Barty's charge to the quarterfinals clearly irked Aussie tennis commentators.
The Australian's Will Swanton earlier this week described Sharapova's screams as "appalling".
"Sharapova's Cold Chisel-scale screaming gets louder, and lasts longer, the more desperate her situation," Swanton wrote.
"There's times when Sharapova is still hollering when Barty hits a shot. It's an all-too-obvious bid to distract an opponent. It's appalling and, thankfully, it doesn't work."
The Herald Sun's Leo Schlink also lamented the WTA Tour's failure to stamp out excessive grunting as former chairman Stacey Allastera attempted to do six years ago when she declared war on the grunting controversy.
"Tennis devotees — those at Melbourne Park and elsewhere — detest the habit," Schlink wrote in a report of Barty's big fourth round win.
"One spectator brandished a sign during the warm-up which read: "Quiet please, Sharapova. Barty is ready to play."
"It made no difference to Sharapova, wailing on virtually every stroke in every rally."
Vegemite wasn't the only company making things uncomfortable for their client this week at the Australian Open.
Finalist Naomi Osaka on Thursday scolded her own sponsor Nissin for producing a cartoon advertisement which pictured the tennis star in "whitewashed" skin.
The company has since apologised and ceased the campaign surrounding the cartoon.
"Like, I've talked to them. They've apologised," Osaka said after her semi-final win.
"For me, it's obvious, I'm tan. It's pretty obvious. I don't think they did it on purpose to be, like, whitewashing or anything. But I definitely think that the next time they try to portray me or something, I feel like they should talk to me about it."
