Atlantic Advertorial's Day in the Sun

If you were away from Twitter Monday evening, you may have missed a new media blowup. An advertorial touting Scientology on The Atlantic's website generated fast and fierce reactions among media observers and those in the industry. Let's take a look.

Storified by Dave Burdick · Mon, Jan 14 2013 19:29:35

What the fuck is this shit? http://bit.ly/UlN3gO

— Jared Keller · Mon, Jan 14 2013 16:16:20

David Miscavige Leads Scientology to Milestone Year

2012 was a milestone year for Scientology, with the religion expanding to more than 10,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups, span...

The best thing about the Scientology ad is that it illustrates just show crappy and clumsy most advertorials are.

— Peter Kafka · Mon, Jan 14 2013 17:49:20

It's just that normally no one cares. Here's a humdinger, for instance. http://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/ibm-power-data/archive/2012/08/why-social-media-matters-for-your-business/260977/

— Peter Kafka · Mon, Jan 14 2013 17:50:33

Why Social Media Matters for Your Business

Many marketers focus on measuring digital for a specific objective. Let's spend some time trying to understand the responses captured in ...

Will Atlantic readers realize that Scientology puff piece on magazine's website is "sponsored content"? http://bit.ly/W5xDfR

— Romenesko · Mon, Jan 14 2013 16:52:19

My successor. RT @c_heller I am furious.

— Jared Keller · Mon, Jan 14 2013 17:37:26

Critics of the Scientology article are Jack Reaching for something to complain about. #jackreacher

— Atlantic Sponsored · Mon, Jan 14 2013 17:22:11

Hey .@TheAtlantic, what's with censoring/deleting very popular comments? @kissane @matmullins #scientology http://pic.twitter.com/DzXwNbDv · Mark Zawacki

FYI, all comments on Atlantic scientology piece have to be approved by a moderator. No moderation on regular stories. http://yfrog.com/h4yooyp · Ross Neumann