Compare and contrast public relations and advertising. How are the two alike and different?

Public relations and advertising in some ways are similar in that they both bring the awareness of a company or a product in a positive manner. They actually complement one another. 

Public relations and advertising however are very different from one another. Advertising is a form of persuasion that tells people about the goods and services that they can purchase.  In contrast, public relations are not paid for and are a cost effective way of getting a story out. Public relations help an organization and its publics to adapt to each other, and its success is measured by the way public opinion is expressed.

In advertising one has full control over the message because you are paying for it. You will know exactly what is being advertised because you are paying the advertisement.  When you pay for this you have a say in what goes into the ad whereas in public relations you have no control over how your information is presented.

An advertisement can be run over and over again depending on what you want to pay for it compared to a press release which is only circulated once. In a nutshell advertising is controlled and paid for and public relation is not controlled. 

Public relations are targeted to a specific public and usually go through the media to reach a specific audience. In advertising the message is designed to appeal directly to the audience that uses that medium.  Advertising targets a particular market and public relations covers stakeholders, employees, community groups and even the media. It aims to generate awareness about the company as a whole and not just it its products or services.