To the left is an example of propaganda as I envision it. To me, propaganda is almost always a way of advertising a negative opinion about a person, place, company, etc. The animated t-shirt on the left is using a Wal*Mart advertisement "always low prices. always" and changing the words to represent a negative view on the Wal*Mart corporation.
Wal*Mart is not a company that is going to go out of business because a couple of people shared negative stories about their wages, or opinions of that company's moral. However, when it comes to rumors about an actual person, propaganda can certainly do more harm. Propaganda is surrounding us when it comes time to vote for political figures. For example, I saw a few commercials about a New Hampshire woman who was running for congress, comparing her to Nancy Pelosi. With such a huge discrepancy surrounding the Healthcare Reform, Nancy Pelosi was not very popular with a lot of the general public. Therefore, comparing the political views of the two woman is an example of propaganda; a negative advertisement, spread with intent to hinder the runner's chances of winning.
Above I talked about "negative advertisement." Advertisement, to me is the actual attempt to sell products/services by means of making those things look enjoyable, necessary, or useful. To the right is an advertisement for the Apple Ipod. The advertisement does not say anything about the Ipod. However, looking at the billboard you can clearly see that the silhouette of the girl dancing is holding on to an Apple Ipod. The Apple logo on the top left of the billboard is how you can be sure that it is for that particular multimedia player, but I guarantee that without that small addition to the billboard a very high percentage of the public would have been able to figure out what it was. This billboard in particular looks as though it is targeting a young-young adult audience because of the bright green background, as well as the clothing on the silhouette. However, the "Old Time Music" in the test of the ad may even attract an older audience as well.
The marketing mix table to the left is exactly how I view "marketing." To me, marketing is the beginning, middle, and end of all the pieces of business and the sale/advertisement of goods and services. Although propaganda is a form of marketing an idea, I tend to separate the idea of marketing and propaganda. I think of marketing as a company's way of promoting a product that they believe people are going to buy, in a place where it will be useful to the consumers, at a price where the seller can make a profit and the consumers can afford to buy the product.
Thoughtful postings, Britney. This is just what I'm looking for students to do with their blogs. Keep up the good work.
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