Sir, I wish to offer you support for your editorial in the recent edition of the BDJ (2012; 213: 373). Are some BDJ readers seriously claiming that an advertorial in the BDJ is more dangerous than say, in The Sun in the way that Tony Benn once compared Pravda to the British press ie no-one believed Pravda but they did believe The Times etc? I am quite sure that the vast majority of BDJ readers are more than capable of 'looking after themselves' in terms of dealing with advertorials and following the 'caveat emptor' principle.

I must declare that I work in marketing and perhaps I feel that I should defend my world to some degree. In terms of gullibility, in my experience (and I include myself in this), persons of all educational standards can be gullible – it isn't about being book smart, it is about being street smart. If BDJ readers are so unresponsive to advertising, why do so many of the major dental brands advertise in the title?! I think that this is tied up with the fact that no-one likes to be sold to and even if we do buy as a result of any kind of advert, we try to keep this quiet. In the UK particularly, we seem to feel that if we have bought a product or a service because of an advertisement, we are somehow foolish.

There is also a tendency amongst human beings to believe that just because we dislike something, so does everyone else. For instance, I am sure that many of us find magazine inserts an annoying distraction and hold magazines by the spine to get rid of them. However, if they didn't work, why are such massive companies spending millions of pounds on reaching certain consumers in this way? We all react differently – some read page advertisements, some don't; that is why there is a marketing mix eg adverts, PR, social media etc.

The editorial mentioned the BBC which is a perfect example of the editorial/advert division. Like the BBC, the BDJ is editorially independent but needs to make money through other channels such as Dave or BBC Worldwide. What this means is that it leaves BBC2 'unsullied' with advertising in between Gardeners' World and QI whilst still having the ability to pay for them! The BDJ is an excellent journal and in my eyes the limited and strictly controlled advertising/product news adds to the interest of the title rather than detracts from it.

1. Chippenham