Comments on: Disney alters Baby Einstein website, but not because they were making false claims or anything, or, Babies Loves Us

By: Lisa @ Corporate Babysitter

Lisa @ Corporate Babysitter — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:12:16 +0000

Vered, you are right. I used to turn on PBS when my girls were younger. Same thing, although BE is probably better than PBS with its sponsorship messages.

By: Vered

Vered — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:53:18 +0000

Five years ago, when my daughter was 6 months old, my mother in law tried to convince me to let her watch daily the Baby Einstein videos that she had brought as a gift. She said “but this is good for her”. I didn’t buy into that, so she never watched it regularly. However, once in a while, when I was desperate for a break, I would let her watch a video. The advertising messages were so powerful that when I did, I felt that it was “okay” or at least “better” than other viewing options. This is the marketing genius of Baby Einstein - even if you didn’t believe it was educational, on some level you felt more comfortable with your kids watching that over other shows.

By: Lisa @ Corporate Babysitter

Lisa @ Corporate Babysitter — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:41:51 +0000

Amber, you’re right, lots of “studies” are funded by the companies themselves who then use the results to push products. That’s not to say, of course, that some of these studies are not accurate — consumers just need to be cautious. Even studies in peer-reviewed journals can have results that can be skewed different ways.

I’m just more likely to believe something published in a peer-reviewed journal than a corporate-sponsored study.

By: Amber

Amber — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 14:55:42 +0000

It seems to me that in order to make a few bucks, large corporations will “find” a study to support what they want the consumer to believe. It’s until a well respected study challenges that information that these corporations get away with their false info. And the people that are affected have no say!

By: Lisa @ Corporate Babysitter

Lisa @ Corporate Babysitter — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:55:16 +0000

Karen, it’s as if the Academy of Pediatrics is suggesting that all babies wear cloth diapers, which must be washed by hand and hung outside on a clothes line to dry.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:30:09 +0000

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests no television for children under the age of 2. Baby Einstein said it respects that position but that it doesn’t reflect the realities of modern parenting.

Emphasis mine. Leave it to a mega-corporation to shun academic research, conjour up a ”need,” and convince consumers of the product’s non-existent value to make shareholders and CEOs happy.

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I’m not happy about that reaction either. A year or two ago, in some parenting magazine (how’s that for a great citation?), I saw essentially the same reaction from a rep of children’s advocacy organization Zero to Three. Discouraging.