Isn’t propaganda just a form of persuasion? What about propaganda separates it from advertising or interpersonal communication?
Edit: Not all propaganda involves lying. For some reason, we seem to be more comfortable with a person lying to us than we are with viewing a propaganda poster that uses verifiable facts.
Edit 2: Another interesting note is that in some countries, propaganda is not viewed negatively like it is in English speaking countries.
I think it’s more about who is lying. We want our governments to be honest with us, because they have so much power over us.
Unlike other advertisers, governments have effectively unlimited budgets and can use force to suppress other narratives.
Similarly, we trust our governments. A great example is the whole weapons-of-mass-destruction/uranium lie perpetrated by the US government (or just the Oval Office?) before the Second Gulf War. The Washington press and most of the US public trusted the government and accepted the lie. We believe in our leaders and institutions, and think they’re above those kind of lies.