The Answer Sheet: Baby Einstein

By now, you’ve likely heard that the Baby Einstein company is offering a refund for its DVDs, a move widely interpreted as a way of avoiding a class-action lawsuit over the company’s claim that the DVDs are educational....I don’t think the Baby Einstein company needed to make strong claims about education to get parents to think that the DVDs were educative. Many parents already believe that visual stimulation and classical music (which the DVDs offer in spades) have been shown to help brain development. Both beliefs are based on solid research that has been twisted out of shape.