Ages ago there used to be a whole campaign for some toothpaste which included a line like “Four out of five dentists recommend Crest as part of a regular course of dental hygiene”. What happened to the fifth dentist? Was he being held incommunicado? Or had he gone underground? Pariah or hero?

I thought I saw him once, on the highway, screaming at motorists. “You fools! Don't use Crest! I don't recommend it!” And people just zoomed by, laughing with their unnaturally brilliant teeth.

Anyway, he's out there. I even heard there was a secret network of them, men and women who couldn't be bought, and just refused to recommend some product. Some brusquely, without a moment's doubt; others agonising over the decision for weeks, thinking of the unfair burden their private Calvary would bring to their family and friends.

But they knew there was a price to pay. And they knew there was no going back.

Labels: Variation on a Theme