In its simplest sense the word 'advertising' means ' attention to something' , or notifying or informing somebody of something. You can advertise by of mouth, quite informally and locally and without incurring great . But if you want to inform a large of people about something, you might need to advertise in the more usual sense of the word, by announcement. If you put a notice in a local newsagent's shop, design a poster or take some space in a local newspaper, you are likely to the information you wish to communicate to the attention of more people than if you simply the word around friends and neighbours. You could go further and distribute leaflets well, get someone to carry a placard around, even talk on local radio and arrange a publicity stunt. , you might not be satisfied to simply convey certain facts and it at that. You might wish to add a bit of emphasis or to exaggerate the facts by appealing to people's emotions. And this is of course all the controversy about advertising in its current form arises.