Advertising to the Xtreme

Today in class we discussed the idea of advertising as brainwashing. In Pakistan, the Taliban has been "brainwashing" Pakistani children into becoming suicide bombers. Recently the Pakistani military found a destroyed compound in Nawaz Kot that was formerly used for this. The compound is painted with bright colors and beautiful landscapes filled with rivers and mountains which is meant to represent what is found in heaven. The picture below (from CNN.com) is an example.

The Taliban uses these paintings as their own form of advertising, along with elaborate stories about the paradise found after death, as a way to recruit new suicide bombers. Members of the Taliban make the children think their lives on Earth are being wasted when they could be in "Heaven" instead. Because the children are from places with terrible living conditions and violence they can easily be manipulated into believing the Taliban.

This certainly constitutes as brainwashing in my opinion, as it warps the childrens' perspectives on life and forces them to the unthinkable: death. So is brainwashing when you force someone to harm themselves physically? Or can it be emotional as well? What is your definition of brainwashing?