Marketing, Advertising, and Propaganda

Advertising and propaganda are both under marketing's larger canopy. Marketing is a tactic in which a company not only wants to create a relationship with customers, but the company wants it to be a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship. Marketing not only helps sell products, but it helps to create products by focusing on not only what the customer wants, but what the customer needs. 

Advertising is a tool that is used to draw the customer to the product. It doesn't necessarily produce life long customers, but it is a beneficial and necessary step for businesses to succeed in marketing. Customers need to see your product and be convinced that the benefits are going to out weigh the cost. One example of an advertisement drawing customers are hair commercials and advertisements. These commercials show beautiful women with gorgeous silky hair and they inspire customers to buy and test the product. However, just because customers bought the product based on an advertisement does not mean they are committed to the product or the company. 

Propaganda is using information or ideas to either sell an idea or product, but at the cost of another person or organization. Propaganda is mostly thought of as a very negative idea in our society, but isn't always dealt with. The most obvious example I have seen of propaganda is in political campaigns. Candidates often time use information, supposedly gathered by legitimate sources, to bash and bring down their opponents. These candidates are in essence using negativity to build themselves up and sell themselves.  

Where is the line between advertising and propaganda? Which organizations do you think have crossed the line in a major way?