Advertorial:
An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term “advertorial” is a blend (see portmanteau) of the words “advertisement” and “editorial.” Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946. (Wikipedia)
Why bring it up, besides being new to me? Because I spotted it in NewScientist (16 April 2016, p 42) headlining a page containing an article named “A career at the frontier of immunotherapy.” Why not just call it an advertisement and be done with it?
Just to finish it off, this is from a 2009 editorial from the same magazine (6 June 2009, paywall):
This blurring of the boundaries between independently refereed publications and advertorials is unacceptable. Promotional material should be clearly marked and easily identifiable. The production of drugs and the production of reliable knowledge about their safety and use must be kept separate.
Not that I’m condemning NewScientist, but rather marking an evolution in publishing in which advertising is moving from single image, single message to a more nuanced approach. It’s clearly marked as advertising (in this case, trying to attract medical talent to the advertiser), but is intermixed with editorial content traditionally kept separate from advertising.
We’ve discussed a closely related subject here.
