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August 16, 2007
Contact: Dr. Susan Linn (617.278.4282;
slinn@jbcc.harvard.edu)
For Immediate Release
CCFC to Disney: Where’s the Beef?
Show us the Evidence that Baby
Einstein Videos are Beneficial to Babies
BOSTON -- The
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is challenging the
Walt Disney Company to produce evidence that DVDs produced by
its subsidiary, Baby Einstein, are beneficial to infants.
Today, CCFC launched a
letter-writing campaign to Disney CEO Robert Iger urging
him to release research showing that Baby Einstein videos are
beneficial to babies, and that they cause no harm, or to
publicly acknowledge that no such research exists. The
campaign was launched after Iger sent a public letter to
University of Washington President Mark Emmert criticizing a
study suggesting that infants who watch baby media may have a
slower rate of language development and demanding the
retraction of a University press release issued in conjunction
with the study.
“The success of the
Baby Einstein brand depends on fostering the belief that their
videos are beneficial to infants” said Dr Susan Linn, a
psychologist at Judge Baker Children's Center and CCFC’s
director. “Instead of criticizing an academic institution’s
press release, Disney should be offering research-based
evidence to support its marketing claims. It is past time for
Disney to share what it knows about the efficacy of Baby
Einstein videos or admit that there is absolutely nothing
Einsteinian about them.”
“I was one of the
peer reviewers for the study by Professors Zimmerman,
Christakis, and Meltzoff,” said Victor Strasburger, MD,
Professor of Pediatrics at the University of New Mexico
School of Medicine. “It is sound research and represents an
important contribution to the small but growing body of
literature that expresses concerns over babies watching TV and
videos. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently
recommends that babies under the age of 2 should not be
watching TV. It's a sad day when Disney has to try to
intimidate the academic community and 3 well-intentioned
researchers who are simply doing their jobs.”
Research points to
the effectiveness of marketing media as educational for
babies. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation report, 48%
of parents believe that baby videos are beneficial to child
development.* The most common reason parents give for putting
their babies and toddlers in front of screens is that they are
beneficial to their child’s brain development.[2]
In 2006,
CCFC filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint against Baby
Einstein, Brainy Baby and BabyFirstTV for falsely and
deceptively marketing their media as educational for babies.
The complaint is under review. In recent months, Baby
Einstein has deleted some of the references to educational
benefits previously listed on its website and cited in CCFC’s
complaint, but explicit claims about developmental benefits
remain.[3]
Baby Einstein also continues to benefit from the impression
created by its name and its success in marketing the company
as a producer of educational videos for babies.
Iger’s letter
criticized the study by Fred Zimmerman, Dimitri Christakis and
Andrew Meltzoff, for not distinguishing between different
types of baby video content citing “studies of infant viewing
(not even mentioned in the report) which find that the
specific nature of content and the way it is consumed are
vitally important” and complains that the study did not
examine “the unique attributes of ‘Baby Einstein’ videos.”
In fact, only one published study to-date has found that
different content has different effects on infants and this
study was done on only 51 babies, has never been replicated,
and had nothing to do with Baby Einstein. No published
study has ever found that the ‘unique attributes’ of Baby
Einstein have any developmental benefits.
Iger’s
letter also states:
“We strongly believe that our "Baby Einstein" videos provide a
positive experience for children and families, one which
encourages parent-child interaction and provides children with
enriching and stimulating images and sounds drawn from real
life.”
But Baby Einstein
has not provided any research demonstrating that their videos
are “enriching” or “stimulating” for babies or that the videos
do, in fact, promote parent-child interaction. In fact,
the videos are designed to be used to be used without the need
for parental interaction. Each DVD has a “repeat play”
feature which allows children to watch it repeatedly without
parents having to push the play button each time. In its FTC
complaint, CCFC cited parent testimonials featured on the Baby
Einstein website that touted the videos efficacy as a baby
sitter, not a tool for parent interaction.[4]
“Whether or not to expose their babies to screen media is an
important decision for parents,” added Dr. Linn. “They need
more than marketing hype about baby videos. Parents
deserve solid information.”
[1]
Rideout, V. (2007) Parents, Children and Media: A
Report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Menlo Park,
CA: Kaiser Family Foundation, page. 15.
[2]
Zimmerman, F.J., Christakis, D.A., Meltzoff, A.N. (2007)
Television and DVD/video viewing in children younger than
2 years. Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.
161(5): 473-9.
[3]
For example:
The product description of “Baby Mozart” video
(appropriate for ages 1 month to 4 years) refers to the
product as creating a “multisensory learning experience
for parents, infants, and toddlers.”
http://disneyshopping.go.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/DSIProductDisplay?catalogId=
10002&storeId=10051&productId=1114068&langId=-1&categoryId=11761&catalogFromSearch=10002.
The product description of “Baby Wordsworth” (ages 9
months and up) refers to the product as an “engaging
discovery of language” that “exposes toddlers to familiar
objects” and features “[s]pecial guest Marlee Matlin [who]
introduces little ones to the concept of non-verbal
communication.”
http://disneyshopping.go.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/DSIProductDisplay?catalogId=
10002&storeId=10051&productId=1184941&langId=-1&categoryId=15584
The product description of “Baby da Vinci” (6 months and
up) claims that “[L]ittle ones will learn to identify
their head, shoulders, knees, toes and more in three
languages!”
http://disneyshopping.go.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/DSIProductDisplay?catalogId=
10002&storeId=10051&productId=1166722&langId=-1&categoryId=15584.
[4]
One testimonial said, “[The videos] have been almost like
a babysitter to me, while I shower or wash the dishes, I
can just pop in a video and he is completely glued to the
television for the whole duration of the show. I think
Baby Einstein has revolutionized the idea of a parent
letting his or her child watch television.” Another
consumer wrote to Baby Einstein, “thanks to you, I get to
take a shower every day, knowing that she is in good
company.” See
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/babyvideos/babyvideocomplaint.pdf,
p. 10. After CCFC filed its complaint, Baby Einstein
removed this section from its website.
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