Last week the USA and anyone in the television viewing time zone stopped to track a silver weather balloon. Purportedly strapped to the base was a box with a small child inside. His parents raised the alarm when the anchor line wasn’t secured. Kid and balloon went off pursued by ambulances and authorities - and television helicopters.

Thankfully the child was found later asleep in a cardboard box in the crawl space above the garage. Sadly, his parents appear to have concocted the stunt to garner publicity. As parents Richard and Mayumi Heene dragged their son Faclon from talk show to talk show the stress caused the boy to vomit. Twice.

From 1999 to 2004 I ran communications at Ford Credit. One of the biggest business risks was the rising number of personal bankruptcies. Ford Credit undertook to raise the level of financial literacy among high school students so they would become better money managers. One year we conducted a poll and asked teens how they would fund their retirement. More than 50% said, “with the winnings of a reality television show.”

It appears that’s exactly what the Heene family was thinking. (If they were thinking at all.) Now police have swooped and the parents face six years in prison. The stunt was to bolster their own television ratings, as they’d already appeared on “Wife Swap” and were hoping to launch a show about their family. (Did I say launch?)

Sadly the stunt has backfired and now Falcon - America’s Balloon Boy - may spend a chunk of childhood without parents. That’s the worst reality possible.