It may be simply a semantic quibble, but I’m wondering about the distinctions we make between straight advertising of a product and what we call propaganda. There certainly is a connotative difference. Do we assume that propaganda is, by denotation, false information? What’s the difference between these two concepts?
Ads for Coca-Cola don’t generally make people want to invade Soviet Russia, for a start… 
a non-answer.
Propoganda does not have to be false. It is part of an agenda to persuade people to a point of view. And whether you call it propoganda or information depends on your own point of view. I daresay that if the government releases a report showing the dangers of smoking, the tobacco industry would refer to it as propoganda. The connotation is generally political.
I think it would be fair to say that advertising is the commercial version of propoganda.
In some languages, the names for the two are identical.
Businesses advertise; governments use propaganda.
In addition, propaganda is usually portrayed to look like news; advertising generally is not.
I have violated SDMB GQ rule #1: Dummy! Before you post a question, look it up someplace. Wikipedia has a very thorough and informative article on propaganda which answers my question nicely. Says, among other things that in many ways, there’s no difference. Advertising uses many of the same techniques and that in a lot of ways, advertising is a type of propaganda that is simply used for commercial purposes. Sorry for the use of space. Go back to work. xo, C.
Coca-Cola! It’s the AMERICAN way of life! When I drink Coke, it makes me want to kick Commie butt!
The organisation from which the word “propaganda” comes, the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, was not a governmant organisation: it was part of the Catholic Church. Today, almost any kind of organisation can use propaganda: political parties, trade unions, pressure groups, etc.
While it has a negative connotation, propaganda is not necessarily a bad thing: it’s just promoting a particular point of view. And (as CookingWithGas said), advertising is a form of propaganda, which is distinguished from other propaganda because it’s promoting commercial products.
OK, if you’re not going to take my light-hearted but ultimately serious answer, I’ll have to elaborate…
Advertising, in it’s truest form, is simply making people aware of the existence of a product and extolling it’s virtues- be it “Coca-Cola: The Pause That Refreshes” to “Mobil: We’re Drivers Too”, or “Kiwi/Aussie Kids Are Weetbix Kids”.
The point is, you’re in the supermarket anyway, so the point of advertising is to encourage you to make a particular choice out of several available to you- be it buying Coke rather than Pepsi, getting your petrol from Mobil rather than Shell or BP, and buying Weetbix instead of the no-brand generic crap.
Propaganda, on the other hand, tends to have a political bent to it- See “Nazi Germany 1933-1945” for some excellent examples.
Typically, Propaganda distorts the picture, but the aim is to get you to do something or feel a certain way about something in line with Official Government Or Pressure Group policy. How true the message in the Propaganda is can be debated, but there are laws (certainly in Australia) against false advertising, whilst you can pretty much say whatever you like (as long as it’s not libellous etc) on political issues, which does seem to include putting “spin” on it.
So ultimately, whilst Coca-Cola ads may encourage you to purchase and enjoy that fine product, they do not exhort you to shun Pepsi drinkers, invade Foreign Countries, or generally DO anything beyond buy a Coke the next time you’re thirsty, whereas Propaganda encourages you to think about a given idea or message in line with what the Government wants you to think- “Smokers are Evil!”, “Fat People Are Lazy!”, “Guns Are Bad!”.
You are, of course, free to accept or reject the propaganda, just as you’re free not to buy Coke, but to instead buy LA Ice or No Brand Keg-O-Cola.
Happy now? 
Heh the hilarious thing is how commonly the “preferred brand” and the no name crap come from the same food processing plant, from the same production line. I have had several ex-coworkers and relatives who work in general commercial food processing places, alot of the time all they change is the packaging for alot of the common generic stuff.