You mess with The Mouse, You lose your House

[OogieBoogie]

Last October the non-profit group "The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood" forced Disney to issue refunds to everyone who had bought a Baby Einstein video. But that victory has come with a price. The New York Times is reporting that the group has just been evicted from thier offices in Boston, where they have been over 10 years. The reason for the eviction? The group is saying that Disney caused it.

For more info about this story, please go to : After Victory Against Disney, Children?s Group Loses Its Lease - NYTimes.com

[Rex Dopey24]

thats kinda of sad to hear about this.

[JerrodDRagon]

Yay Disney always thinking of people before profit.

[Goofus]

The story is a little more nuanced, and it seems somewhat of a stretch to lay the blame at Disney's feet. Read this post at Newsweek.

[Incrediboy]

Ok, can someone tell me what is wrong with the Baby Einstein videos that they would make such a big deal about?

[indianajack]

Disney made educational claims about them that were not backed up by any scientific evidence. That's false advertising.

[DLPfan1992]

OH no Disney mad educational claims thats not backed by science. Big deal don't all company's do that all the time.

[jcruise86]

OH no Disney mad educational claims thats not backed by science. Big deal don't all company's do that all the time.

With at least six mistakes in two short sentences, maybe you should be more concerned with education.

[CMHusband]

The story is a little more nuanced, and it seems somewhat of a stretch to lay the blame at Disney's feet. Read this post at Newsweek.

I didn't really see any evidence that Disney was to blame for the eviction. Are the videos "really" that "harmful" compared to what????

I ain't buying any of it.

[CMHusband]

Disney made educational claims about them that were not backed up by any scientific evidence. That's false advertising.

People know its all BS. I doubt anyone really bought them to "educate" babies.
Come ON People!!! Is Sesame Street "educational" because they repeat the number 5 over and over in one show? I doubt it.

[Exprmnt626]

People know its all BS. I doubt anyone really bought them to "educate" babies.
Come ON People!!! Is Sesame Street "educational" because they repeat the number 5 over and over in one show? I doubt it.

Believe it or not, repetition and reinforcement does increase cognitive development, especially in the first five years. Bear in mind I'm talking about repetition and reinforcement of things appropriate for their developmental stage, not the Your Baby Can Read or the 'geniuses' who know all 50 state capitals or the presidents in order.

[jcruise86]

People know its all BS. I doubt anyone really bought them to "educate" babies. . .

Yeah, I saw a New Yorker cartoon of a mother in a children's store asking, "Do you have any educational videos that are 90 minutes long?" It's cheap, guilt-free baby sitting. Though one educational videos for toddlers did teach her the alphabet when she was a toddler, she seemed to forget it after she went a while without watching it.

[Exprmnt626]

Yeah, I saw a New Yorker cartoon of a mother in a children's store asking, "Do you have any educational videos that are 90 minutes long?" It's cheap, guilt-free baby sitting. Though one educational videos for toddlers did teach her the alphabet when she was a toddler, she seemed to forget it after she went a while without watching it.

that stuff is just parroting. It's not likely the child comprehends the information they repeat.

[SharonDC]

Good riddance to these "Campaign for a Comercialfree Childhood" thugs. Having worked on the Baby Einstein™ packaging (I write the back-of-box synopses for many of WDSHE's top preschool franchises) since Disney acquired the company 2001, I can honestly say that we have bent over backward to NOT make the sort of educational claims this nuthouse fringe group attributes to Disney. This is a quality product dedicated to the premise that watching these videos with little ones affords parents opportunities to share some special and unique experiences together with their babies. It is not, and never was, intended to be a "baby-sitter." Nor does it claim to make babies "smarter." A lot of really talented, creative and kind people suffered immeasurably because this faux consumer watchdog group wanted to stick it to Disney.

Sharon D. Cohen
Copywriter / Creative Consultant

[Magenta Panther]

People know its all BS. I doubt anyone really bought them to "educate" babies.
Come ON People!!! Is Sesame Street "educational" because they repeat the number 5 over and over in one show? I doubt it.

I think people bought the videos because they bought the premise - that the videos could indeed educate their children. Similar assumptions have kept Sesame Street afloat for years, so it appears that Disney tried to get in on the deal. And it blew up in its face. *shrug*