True 'Spirit of America': Bush's Icon Teaches Tots to Tune In
Seems nothing's ever simple these days. President Bush, in his State of the Union, praised special guest Julie Aigner-Clark, who he said "represents the great enterprising spirit of America," for founding Baby Einstein, makers of children's videos.
She started with borrowed equipment in her basement in 1997 and "in just five years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales," Bush said, as the beaming Aigner-Clark watched from the balcony box. "In November 2001, Julie sold Baby Einstein to the Walt Disney Company," he said, "and with her help Baby Einstein has grown into a $200 million business."
  Julie Aigner-Clark, center, and two Baby Einstein puppets in 2001. Her company, lauded in the State of the Union, makes DVDs for infants. But one child-advocacy group isn't so thrilled. (By Ed Andrieski -- Associated Press) |
Sign Up for RSS FeedBut there's always a flip side, it seems. Our colleague Rachel Dry looked for more information about the company and, sure enough, found that a group called the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) had filed a complaint last year with the Federal Trade Commission asking it to investigate Baby Einstein for making "deceptive and false claims."
"Baby Einstein," the complaint says, "claims that with its Baby da Vinci video, 'your child will learn to identify her different body parts . . . in Spanish, English and French!' " and claims to be "educational and beneficial for infant development."
That's "deceptive and false," the complaint argues, "because no research or evidence exists" to support those claims, and there's evidence just the opposite may be true, especially for infants and toddlers. Experts, including folks at the American Academy of Pediatrics, fear parents will let toddlers spend too much time watching the videos, leading to cognitive and sleeping problems and to obesity, the complaint said.
The FTC hasn't yet posted a public response to the complaint, and Michelle Jacob, a spokeswoman for Baby Einstein, said the company does not comment on the opinions of the CCFC and is not commenting on the complaint.
On the other hand for harried parents, the supplied "testimonials" are most impressive. One mother, according to the complaint, 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."
The complaint cites a mother who called Baby Einstein videos "crack cocaine for babies. Once an infant or toddler has seen one, the child becomes addicted. No matter how many times you play the tape, the kid will want more."
And if you set the "repeat play" on the DVD, the CCFC complaint notes helpfully, "it will automatically replay from the beginning over and over without end."
Hey! More than enough time for dinner and a movie.
Will Cheney's Next Hunting Trip Be to Iraq?
Meanwhile, Vice President Cheney, stepping into the curious breach left by Bush's Tuesday address, forcefully responded to the liberal media bashers who say things haven't been going very well in Iraq. "Enormous success" in Iraq, he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a Wednesday interview, hardly a "terrible situation."
And indeed much of that extraordinary success is completely unreported, perhaps willfully ignored, by the media. How many, for example, are writing about the first-ever "Birds of Iraq" field guide that was announced yesterday?
