The difference between radio and TV

Although there are obvious differences between radio and TV (for example, David Mellor has the perfect face for radio), there is one that I wasn't particularly aware of before now.

As far as the ASA are concerned, the main difference between these two media is that young children watch TV on their own, but don't listen to radio on their own.

Hence, complaints about the Government's current "I'm scared" anti-smoking campaign have been upheld as far as the TV advert is concerned, but not as far as the one on radio - despite the two adverts using the same scripts.

Apparently, the ASA "considered that the ad could cause distress to children if they were watching TV alone, without their parents or family to explain the ad to them." But the radio advert doesn't have this problem, because "any child listening would likely be in the company of family - over breakfast or during the school run in the car".

Proof, if it were needed, that - officially - the TV is the child minder that every home already employs. And radio is the weird bloke in the park that you're not allowed to talk to.

Now, forgive me if I'm missing something, but isn't this the point? I'm not really one for scaring children to prove a point, but the ASA assert that, without an adult to explain it, young children watching the advert think that the death of their smoking parent(s) is imminent. Thus, parents who are prone to leaving their young kids in the sole company of a TV set end up having to - heaven forbid - do some proper parenting for a change. They don't like this, so they complain to the ASA. Which, in a BBC-over-the-Ross-and-Brand-incident display of feeblemindedness, they uphold. Tossers.

Thing is, I don't think the "I'm scared" adverts go far enough. I think a child coming out with the line, "I'm scared my mummy will die, and I'm scared that breathing in her smoke will kill me too" would hammer the point home nicely.

Don't want your children scared by anti-smoking adverts? Here are my top tips:

1) Stop smoking
2) Don't leave your children unsupervised watching the TV
3) Try doing both - and embrace the radical art of "good parenting"

And stop blaming the government - who lose masses of tobacco-sourced tax revenue if they succeed in their aim of stopping people from smoking - when it all goes tits up.