I was not just pleased, but gratified, to read a recent article in the New York Times (Lewin 2009) that the Walt Disney Company is now offering refunds to parents who purchased any Baby Einstein DVD title between June 5, 2004 and Sept 5, 2009. Parents can exchange up to four videos for others, receive a discount coupon, or $15.99 each in cash. This concession came about largely through the efforts of the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC), based in Boston, which has been pushing this issue for years. Although Disney does not acknowledge this in its announcement, the refund offer was made in a response to a threatened class action suit against the company for false and misleading advertising.

For those not familiar with these videos, they are musical productions accompanied by bright color displays, puppets and not much language. A large number of these videos have been produced ranging from Baby Einstein and Baby Mozart to Baby Shakespeare and Baby Galileo. The titles themselves are deceptive because they erroneously suggest that you’ll be able to teach a baby about relativity, Macbeth or the Copernican theory.

Because these videos were advertised as “educational,” The CCFC took the issue to the Federal Trade Commission. The Director of CCFC, Susan Lynn made the case that the misleading Baby Einstein videos were pervasive. A 2003 study found that a third of all American babies from 6 months to 2 years of age, had watched at least one Baby Einstein video. When Disney agreed to drop the word, the CCFC said this was not enough because of the misleading titles and because of the widespread use and misuse of these videos.

The Disney Company finally gave in when they received a letter from the CCFC lawyers which said that, “The Walt Disney Company’s entire Baby Einstein marketing campaign is based on express and implied claims that their videos are educational and beneficial to early childhood development.” In fact, as the lawyers also pointed out, research shows that television viewing is potentially harmful to young children. The lawyer letter also referred to a number of studies which show a relation to watching television in the first two years of life is associated with Attentional Deficit Disorder (ADHD) at ages six and seven. In response to this research, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two should really not watch any television. But Disney and other merchandiser of infant videos like Brainy Baby ignored the research until they were forced to do so, by legal action.

I very much hope that this is the start of something big. It is about time that we put a stop to the many other companies which are exploiting children and misinforming parents. They too need to stop making false claims and selling unhealthy products.

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Lewin, T. (2009). No Einstein in Your Crib? Get a Refund. The New York Times. New York.