Way #1 is the right way.

Way #2 is the way of the managers who don't know as much as you do.

Go with way #1 and you do what is right and correct, but run the risk of getting fired.

Go with way #2 and you make the managers happy, but doom the project/task you are working on. Eventually the project/task goes bust, and then if they blame you for it you get fired, downsized, or put on probation.

It is a lose-lose situation anyway. You are trying to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. Any job situation that uses dishonesty in that maner to promote a product is not worth working at anymore. If the managers want you to lie to clients and investors, imaging what the managers are doing to you behind your back?