Controls are so tight in the advertising industry on the kind of pitch one is permitted to make about one's product, that such qualifications as "the best in the market" or "better than any other of its kind" have become a violation of the rules.

One way round it, first used by a Danish brand of beer, was to precede a superlative by "probably".

Doing the rounds on the airwaves is a jingle about a modern system of radio transmission, namely DAB.

A jingle that not only sings the product's praises, but runs down its competitors.

To use a PL gem of a standby, it is negative.

The digital radio transmission spot ends with a clever juggle of wordplay (but a blatant infringement of advertising rules), thus:

"If it doesn't have a logo that's a DAB,

Leave it on the shelf 'cause it's BAD."

Shouldn't the last line be dropped as it is?

Seems the Broadcasting Authority has been caught napping on this one.

Little wonder that "BA" is in "BAD".

Joe Genovese