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Baby Einstein gets spanked

After complaints that its baby videos had been marketed deceptively, Disney succumbs to pressure from angry parents and offers refunds.
By Carol Lloyd
 

Okay, perhaps spanked doesn’t quite hit the mark.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that Baby Einstein has offered to give back its allowance to the tune of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars. The Disney-owned maker of the wildly popular (and controversial) infant media juggernaut pledged to refund any of its products until March 10, 2010.

How did something as seemingly innocuous as a bunch of baby videos with triangles bouncing to Bach end up becoming so contentious?

The videos, first marketed as educational toys for babies and toddlers, have been at the center of a battle over babies’ brains for years. According to a 2003 study cited in the New York Times, one in three U.S. babies from six months to 2 years old had at least one Baby Einstein video. Despite the company’s success, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against screen time for children under the age of 2.

In 2006 angry parents led by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that Baby Einstein’s marketing of its products as educational was deceptive. In response to the complaint, the company altered its marketing materials and removed parent testimonials from its website; the commission declined to bring any action against Baby Einstein. Citing studies that suggest screen time with similar products can inhibit language development, the CCFC continued pressing Disney to offer parents more than truth in advertising.

In a testily worded statement, Baby Einstein general manager Susan McLain contends that the current brouhaha is much ado about nothing: Its products have always had a customer-satisfaction guarantee. But unlike Baby Einstein’s normal offer (valid for 60 days from the date of purchase with a sales receipt), this “enhanced consumer-satisfaction guarantee” is valid for five years from the purchase date and requires no sales receipt.

Bottom line? If you bought the videos and no longer want them, pack them up and get the refund!

 

Carol Lloyd is a senior editor for GreatSchools and mother to two raucous daughters ages 5 and 9.

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Comments from GreatSchools.org readers

11/2/2009:
"come on people..just wise up..no tv/video, etc can help a child except you as a parent. there's also a thin line between a genius and insanity"
11/2/2009:
"As a working mother I am grateful for Baby Einsteins. My daughters now age 6 and 3 loved them (and still do). They were able to be entertained (and learn a few things like what a wombat is - I had no idea before BE)while I cook dinner and not be baraged every 5 minutes with commercials. I need that downtime (and so do the kids) to decompress from a hard day. Also in order to truly reap the benefits of BE you need to watch WITH your kids and not expect it to miraculously teach them on its own. I actually catch my daughter humming the classical music that she learned from watching BE. "
11/2/2009:
"I bought the original videos so that my child would be exposed to foreign language. I am not sure whether they helped, but they certainly did not hurt. Why on earth would I need a refund? That is just plain silly. Those parents wanting their money back should be ashamed of themselves. The baby Einstein videos were started by a fellow mom working out of her garage. She has a great success story that was inspirational to me. Shame, Shame, Shame on you greedy people!"
10/27/2009:
"Ok, if you believed that your child under two was actually learning something from these videos you don't deserve your money back. Come on, people. These are fun videos that children like to watch. If you plunked your kid down and thought he/she was being educated, you need some education yourself. Keep the videos and be glad that your child was entertained. Stop thinking you should get $ back when you used it and enjoyed it. Entitlement mentality runs rampant in this country."
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