In a recent Herald article, the Scottish newspaper reports on the emergence of radio text messaging as an ad medium:

"One Californian company which provides RDS content to more than a dozen stations has started selling "radio text" advertisements to music and film companies, as well as several mortgage lenders.

North Carolina-based First Charter bank is to experiment this month with scrolling text to coincide with the airing of its adverts on commercial radio channels. Messages will include the text "Free gift" and "Call now", followed by a hotline number. Meanwhile, other companies are likely to see the attraction in advertising a movie as its theme song plays on the radio or promoting the concerts and albums of playlisted artists.

Concern has been expressed in the US about the safety risks of encouraging motorists to read sponsors' messages while driving. Former Green presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader said: "All these kinds of distraction add up to the following: the driver is paying more attention to the inside of the vehicle than the dynamics outside.""