Posted on 05/02/2006 12:08:10 AM PDT by sully777
WASHINGTON The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood filed a complaint today with the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that the advertising for Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby videos for infants and toddlers is false and deceptive because the products are promoted as educational, the Boston-based consumer advocacy group said.
The group wants the FTC to prohibit any claims that say the products will enhance a baby's learning and development, and it is asking that all ads, packaging and Web sites for the products carry the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation which says there should be no screen time for children under 2.
"Parents need honest information," said Susan Linn, a co-founder of the group. "They have a right to know that baby videos aren't really educational and may even be detrimental to their babies' development. Just because the marketing and media industries want to lure babies and toddlers to screens doesn't mean that Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby can mislead parents about the benefits of their products."
The consumer group in January had teamed up with the Center for Science in the Public Interest to announce their intention to sue Kellogg and Viacom for marketing unhealthful food to children.
Concern about Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby videos has grown more urgent since a December study by the Kaiser Family Foundation titled "A Teacher in the Living Room? Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers" said there was no scientific research to back up educational claims made in many baby-learning products. The study said the "main tool many parents have to assess the quality of products for in-home use is the products' own marketing and advertising."
Brainy Baby said in February that it planned to change its tagline from "A little genius in the making" to "Learning for a lifetime," in response to the issues raised in the Kaiser report, president and CEO Dennis Fedoruk said at the time.
Center for [Junk] Science [Not] In the Public Interest was the advocacy group that said hot buttered popcorn at theatres as well as chinese and mexican food were all dangerous.
It's a Boston-based organization from the People's Republic of Taxachusetts. That's all that needs to be said. Having lived there for the first 35 years of my life and then, by God's grace, being able to move away, I suppose I'm an expert on the terrible place it's turned into.
Those were the greatest, weren't they? Classic & Classical Bugs Bunny!
I thought this would be interesting for discussion.
Hucksters exploiting the fear and laziness of parents...not much more to say.
Hmmm, and not a word about the ubiquitous PBS behemoth, Big Bird.
mark
LOL! Now that was comic genius. Who could imagine one could make Wagner funny.
"Kill the Wabbit, kill the Wabbit..."
There is probably a very high correlation between children who grow up in homes that value education enough to buy such products and educational achievement.
Thanks for posting this. In our homeschooling family we play classical music while our daughter studies, reads or works on projects and she chooses to listen to it in her free time. LOL she has her favorites, and the ones she dislikes intensely. She is 6.
Our son loves his Baby Einstein DVD's. He loves the baby Einstein puppets and all of the antics they get into. I don't expect his IQ to go up because he watches them. He has a good time laughing and dancing to them.
In all things moderation, we don't use them as a baby sitter nor as a way to have a "brainy baby".
I thought the 3 Stooges were much better things to tube-sit your kids with... Look what it has done for me! :p
Good Point.
Please send these people on a mission somewhere. . .else.
(So maybe we need a united 'counter' organization to tackle that one. . .and this one and so on and on. . .or go 'one for one'. . .whatever it takes. . .)
. . .and you are, of course, referencing here, The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Consumer groups et al. . .right?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.