Baby Einstein: A Brilliant Term Crushed by Reality
The New York Times announced today that the Walt Disney Company is offering refunds for all those “Baby Einstein” videos that did not make children into geniuses. As the paper reports, the videos "may have been a great electronic baby sitter, but the unusual refunds appear to be a tacit admission that they did not increase infant intellect."
Susan Linn, director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which has been pushing the issue for years was understandably pleased, seeing it "as an acknowledgment by the leading baby video company that baby videos are not educational."
In 2006, Ms. Linn’s group went to the Federal Trade Commission to complain about the educational claims made by Disney and another company, Brainy Baby. As a result, the companies dropped the word “educational” from their marketing. But the group didn’t think that was enough.
Last year, lawyers threatened a class-action lawsuit for unfair and deceptive practices unless Disney agreed to refund the full purchase price to all who bought the videos since 2004. Their attorneys argued that “The Walt Disney Company’s entire Baby Einstein marketing regime is based on express and implied claims that their videos are educational and beneficial for early childhood development.” In addition, they stated that those claims were “false because research shows that television viewing is potentially harmful for very young children.” The letter also described studies showing that television exposure at ages 1 through 3 is associated with attention problems at age 7.
Baby Einstein, founded in 1997, was one of the earliest players in what became a huge electronic media market for babies and toddlers. Acquired by Disney in 2001, the company expanded to a full line of books, toys, flashcards and apparel, along with DVDs including “Baby Mozart,” “Baby Shakespeare” and “Baby Galileo.” The videos — simple productions featuring music, puppets, bright colors, and not many words — became a staple of baby life: According to a 2003 study, a third of all American babies from 6 months to 2 years old had at least one “Baby Einstein” video.
The sad fact is that the problems and limitations were predictable. Despite the ingenious name, the products represented a repackaging of materials that, despite their popularity, do little or nothing for enhancing any range of meaningful skills. The emphasis on relatively valueless skills, and the lack of attention to meaningful ones is a key factor in the astronomical 40% reading failure rate that haunts our children and our nation. Lots of productive actions can be taken--but they can only happen if parents are given the information they need to get past the glib, seductive advertising that drains our efforts and finances away from pathways that can yield real benefits.
