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	{{Short description\|Line of multimedia products and toys for children aged 1 month to 4 years}}		{{Short description\|Line of multimedia products and toys for children aged 1 month to 4 years}}
	{{For\|the Baby Einstein videos\|List of Baby Einstein videos}}
	{{Cleanup-PR\|1=article\|date=February 2022}}		{{Cleanup-PR\|1=article\|date=February 2022}}
	{{Infobox company		{{Infobox company
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	Baby Einstein was introduced to the public on June 4, 1996, and remained a small company until Clark sold it to ]. Between November 7, 2001,<ref>{{Cite news\|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/07/business/fi-1070\|title=Disney Buys Toy Maker, Publisher Baby Einstein\|last=VERRIER\|first=RICHARD\|date=2001-11-07\|work=Los Angeles Times\|access-date=2018-03-19\|language=en-US\|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> and September 13, 2013, Disney owned and operated the Baby Einstein brand. Starting on October 14, 2013, ] owns and operates the Baby Einstein brand.		Baby Einstein was introduced to the public on June 4, 1996, and remained a small company until Clark sold it to ]. Between November 7, 2001,<ref>{{Cite news\|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/07/business/fi-1070\|title=Disney Buys Toy Maker, Publisher Baby Einstein\|last=VERRIER\|first=RICHARD\|date=2001-11-07\|work=Los Angeles Times\|access-date=2018-03-19\|language=en-US\|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> and September 13, 2013, Disney owned and operated the Baby Einstein brand. Starting on October 14, 2013, ] owns and operates the Baby Einstein brand.

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	==History==		==History==
			] with baby 1893]]
	'''The Baby Einstein Company''' was founded in 1996 by former teacher and stay-at-home mom Julie Aigner-Clark at her home in suburban ], ], as '''I Think I Can Productions'''. Clark was a mix of a stay-at-home mom and former teacher, with a passion to expose children to the arts.<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=Conrad Gothie\|first=Sarah\|date=December 2006\|title='Great Minds Start Little': Unpacking the Baby Einstein Phenomenon\|url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=bgsu1162674582&disposition=inline\|pages=10}}</ref> According to an interview with Julie Dunn, she wanted her babies to be exposed to classical music, poetry, colors, shapes, and more.<ref>Dunn, Julie. "Bringing up Baby Einstein." New York Times, 11 Nov. 2001, p. BU. Gale Academic OneFile,</ref> Aigner-Clark and her husband invested $18,000 of their savings to produce the initial product, a ] they named ''Baby Einstein'' and later sold as ''Language Nursery'' in 2002 to avoid confusion with the Baby Einstein brand as a whole.		]]]<mapframe latitude="30" longitude="0" zoom="2" width="533.991" height="370.994" align="right" />'''The Baby Einstein Company''' was founded in 1996 by former teacher and stay-at-home mom Julie Aigner-Clark at her home in suburban ], ], as '''I Think I Can Productions'''. Clark was a mix of a stay-at-home mom and former teacher, with a passion to expose children to the arts.<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=Conrad Gothie\|first=Sarah\|date=December 2006\|title='Great Minds Start Little': Unpacking the Baby Einstein Phenomenon\|url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=bgsu1162674582&disposition=inline\|pages=10}}</ref> According to an interview with Julie Dunn, she wanted her babies to be exposed to classical music, poetry, colors, shapes, and more.<ref>Dunn, Julie. "Bringing up Baby Einstein." New York Times, 11 Nov. 2001, p. BU. Gale Academic OneFile,</ref> Aigner-Clark and her husband invested $18,000 of their savings to produce the initial product, a ] they named ''Baby Einstein'' and later sold as ''Language Nursery'' in 2002 to avoid confusion with the Baby Einstein brand as a whole.


			]] face]]

	The original video shows a variety of toys and visuals interspersed with music, stories, numbers, and words of many languages. Eventually, the video was marketed across the United States, ], ], and Australia. It even won the 1997 Parenting Magazine award for Best Video of the Year.<ref>"80 Percent of Parents Feel Children Under the Age of Five Should Be Exposed to Classical Music." PR Newswire, 10 Aug. 2000, p. 0870. Gale Academic OneFile</ref> Other videos followed, some featuring the Clarks' two daughters, Aspen and Sierra, as well as other children.		The original video shows a variety of toys and visuals interspersed with music, stories, numbers, and words of many languages. Eventually, the video was marketed across the United States, ], ], and Australia. It even won the 1997 Parenting Magazine award for Best Video of the Year.<ref>"80 Percent of Parents Feel Children Under the Age of Five Should Be Exposed to Classical Music." PR Newswire, 10 Aug. 2000, p. 0870. Gale Academic OneFile</ref> Other videos followed, some featuring the Clarks' two daughters, Aspen and Sierra, as well as other children.
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	As a result of Baby Einstein being named after ], ] had to be paid to ] which compensates the Einstein ]. This made Einstein one of the top five earning dead celebrities.<ref>{{cite news\| url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/cobain-is-the-new-elvis/2006/10/25/1161699375968.html \|title= Cobain is the new Elvis (Most earning dead celebrities)\| work =Sydney Morning Herald\|date=2006-10-25\|access-date=2008-08-13\| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080905014203/http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/cobain-is-the-new-elvis/2006/10/25/1161699375968.html\| archive-date= 5 September 2008 \| url-status= live}}</ref>		As a result of Baby Einstein being named after ], ] had to be paid to ] which compensates the Einstein ]. This made Einstein one of the top five earning dead celebrities.<ref>{{cite news\| url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/cobain-is-the-new-elvis/2006/10/25/1161699375968.html \|title= Cobain is the new Elvis (Most earning dead celebrities)\| work =Sydney Morning Herald\|date=2006-10-25\|access-date=2008-08-13\| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080905014203/http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/cobain-is-the-new-elvis/2006/10/25/1161699375968.html\| archive-date= 5 September 2008 \| url-status= live}}</ref>
			]]]

	On October 14, 2013, The Walt Disney Company announced they had sold the ''Baby Einstein'' brand to ], a longtime licensee of the property.<ref name="License! Global">{{cite news \|url=http://www.licensemag.com/toys-games/kids-ii-purchases-baby-einstein\|author =License! Global\|date=October 14, 2013 \|title=Kids II Purchases Baby Einstein \|work =License! Global }}</ref>		On October 14, 2013, The Walt Disney Company announced they had sold the ''Baby Einstein'' brand to ], a longtime licensee of the property.<ref name="License! Global">{{cite news \|url=http://www.licensemag.com/toys-games/kids-ii-purchases-baby-einstein\|author =License! Global\|date=October 14, 2013 \|title=Kids II Purchases Baby Einstein \|work =License! Global }}</ref>

	==Controversy==

	===FTC complaint===
	In May 2006, the ] (CCFC) filed a complaint with the U.S. ] (FTC) against the Baby Einstein Company and similar companies for ].<ref name=FTCcomplaint> {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719054418/http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/babyvideos/ftccomplaint.htm \|date=2011-07-19 }}, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood website, retrieved Dec. 15, 2008</ref> The CCFC alleged false advertising based on an ] recommendation that children under two should be discouraged from watching television.<ref>{{cite journal \|author=], Committee on Public Education \|title=Children, Adolescents, and Television (policy statement) \|journal=] \|volume=107 \|date=February 2001 \|pages=423–426 \|doi=10.1542/peds.107.2.423 \|pmid=11158483 \|issue=2 \|doi-access=free }}</ref> It also cited studies showing that only 6% of parents were aware of that recommendation, whereas 49% thought educational videos were very important in children's intellectual development.<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://mothering.com/guest_editors/kids_commercialism/kids_commercialism.html \|title=Putting the Book Back in Book Fair \|work=] \|date=January 2007 \|access-date=2007-08-13 \|author=Josh Golin \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070812174744/http://www.mothering.com/guest_editors/kids_commercialism/kids_commercialism.html \|archive-date=2007-08-12 \|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news \|url=http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia121405pkg.cfm \|title=New Report on Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers\|author1=Michelle M. Garrison \|author2=Dimitri A. Christakis \|name-list-style=amp \| publisher=] \|access-date=2007-08-13 \| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070902235706/http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia121405pkg.cfm\| archive-date= 2 September 2007 \| url-status= live}}</ref>
	In December 2007, the FTC closed the complaint, noting that some of the CCFC's claims did not raise issues under the FTC's substantiation rules.<ref name=FTCClosingLetter> to counsel for the Baby Einstein Company, December 5, 2007, retrieved July 9, 2008</ref> The FTC also considered the redesign of the Baby Einstein website, which removed certain product testimonials and product descriptions, as well as the company's promise to make sure that advertising claims about products' educational and developmental value would be properly substantiated.<ref name=FTCClosingLetter/>

	===Language development===
	A 2010 study published in '']'' demonstrated that children who viewed the videos regularly for one month, with or without their parents, "showed no greater understanding of words from the program than kids who never saw it".<ref name=bower>{{cite news\|author1=Bruce Bower\|title=DVDs don't turn toddlers into vocabulary Einsteins\|url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dvds-don%E2%80%99t-turn-toddlers-vocabulary-einsteins\|work=ScienceNews\|date=September 3, 2010\|access-date=May 16, 2015\|archive-date=November 20, 2015\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120110250/https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dvds-don%E2%80%99t-turn-toddlers-vocabulary-einsteins\|url-status=dead}}</ref> On the other hand, children who were taught by their parents improved the most; researchers speculated that this was probably because children learn best "through meaningful gestures and interactive communication with parents".<ref name=maia>{{cite magazine\|author1=Maia Szalavitz \|title='Like Crack for Babies': Kids Love Baby Einstein, But They Don't Learn From It\|url=http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/07/like-crack-for-babies-baby-einstein-fails-again-in-new-study \|magazine =Time\|date=September 7, 2010}}</ref> In response to these new findings, Disney offered refunds to parents whose children did not see improvement,<ref>Tamar Lewin, , '']'', October 23, 2009</ref> even though ], CEO of ], demanded a retraction (of the press release) when a similarly unsupportive study was announced in 2007.<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://www.babyeinstein.com/Common/Documents/BobIgerPressRelease.pdf \|title=The Walt Disney Company demands retraction from the University of Washington for misleading press release \|date=August 13, 2007 \|publisher=Baby Einstein press release \|author=] \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928033923/http://www.babyeinstein.com/Common/Documents/BobIgerPressRelease.pdf \|archive-date=2007-09-28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|url=http://consumerist.com/consumer/take-it-back/walt-disney-demands-retraction-from-university-of-washington-over-baby-einstein-video-press-release-289008.php\|title=Walt Disney Demands Retraction From University of Washington Over Baby Einstein Video Press Release\|access-date=2007-08-13\|work=The Consumerist\|date=2007-08-13\|author=Meg Marco\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235011/http://consumerist.com/consumer/take-it-back/walt-disney-demands-retraction-from-university-of-washington-over-baby-einstein-video-press-release-289008.php\|archive-date=2007-09-27\|url-status=dead}}</ref>

	The 2007 study, based on telephone interviews with parents, had been published in the '']'' and resulted in a lawsuit by the company's founders due to widespread negative media coverage stemming from the article.<ref>{{cite magazine\|url=http://ilabs.washington.edu/news/TIME_BrainierBaby_Jan_06.pdf\|title=Want a Brainier Baby? Loading up on tapes, games and videos may not be a smart move\|author=]\|magazine=Time\|date=2006-01-08\|access-date=2007-08-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12437-educational-dvds-slow-infant-learning.html\|title=Educational DVDs 'slow infant learning'\|work=New Scientist\|date=2007-08-07\|author=Roxanne Khamsi}}</ref> The press release announcing the study explained that for each hour spent watching baby DVDs/videos, infants understood on average six to eight fewer words than infants who did not watch them.<ref name="Joel Schwartz">{{cite news\|url=http://uwnews.washington.edu/ni/article.asp?articleID=35898 \|author=Joel Schwartz \|date=August 7, 2007 \|title=Baby DVDs, videos may hinder, not help, infants' language development \|work=University of Washington press release \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818223741/http://uwnews.washington.edu/ni/article.asp?articleID=35898 \|archive-date=2007-08-18 }}</ref> The ] researchers Frederick Zimmerman, Dimitri Christakis, and ] had claimed that, among infants aged 8 to 16 months, exposure to "baby DVDs/videos" such as "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" was strongly ] with lower scores on a Communicative Development Inventory, a standard ] test.<ref>{{cite journal\|author1=Frederick J. Zimmerman \|author2=Dimitri A. Christakis \|author3=Andrew N. Meltzoff \|name-list-style=amp \| title=Associations between Media Viewing and Language Development in Children under Age 2 Years\| journal= Journal of Pediatrics\| date=2007-08-07\| url=http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2007/0817/20070817_071817_Zimmermanetal__Associations_JPed07.pdf\| doi= 10.1016/j.jpeds.2007.04.071\|volume=151\|pages=364–8\|pmid=17889070\|issue=4}}</ref> The Baby Einstein Company expressed "serious concerns about the many contradictions" in the study.<ref>{{cite news \| url= http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/13853586/detail.html \| title= Study Targets Infant Videos Finds Too Much TV, Too Few Words \| work= The Denver Channel \| author= Theresa Marchetta \| date= 2007-08-08 \| access-date= 2007-08-13 \| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235429/http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/13853586/detail.html \| archive-date= 26 September 2007 \| url-status= dead }}</ref> Although University of Washington President ] rejected Disney's claims,<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://www.webwire.com/viewpressrel.asp?aid=45295\|title=UW President rejects Disney complaints\| work =University of Washington press release\|date=2007-08-16}}</ref> in 2010, the university settled with the founders, paying out $175,000 in back legal fees and turned over the study's data to the Baby Einstein founders.<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_18381772\|title='Baby Einstein' DVD creators find redemption in documents suggesting negative study was flawed\| work =The Denver Post\|date=2011-06-30}}</ref>

	In March 2008, the ''Journal of Pediatrics'' released a study by ] and the ]'s Center on Media and Child Health showing that television viewing is, “neither beneficial nor deleterious to child cognitive and language abilities” for children under 2, in a study that examined all television rather than just education DVDs for babies.<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2009/03/tvs_not_the_big_bad_wolf.html\|date=March 2009\|newspaper=The Washington Post\|title=TV's Not the Big Bad Wolf}}</ref> In January 2010, the founders requested that a judge order the University of Washington to release records for the 2007 study, saying, “Given that other research studies have not shown the same outcomes, we would like the raw data and analytical methods from the Washington studies so we can audit their methodology, and perhaps duplicate the studies".<ref name=Refund>{{cite news\|title='Baby Einstein' Founder Goes to Court\|last=Lewin\|first=Tamar\|date=12 January 2010\|work=The New York Times\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/education/13einstein.html}}</ref> In 2013, the original dataset was reanalyzed by independent scholars who concluded that it was safest to suggest that baby videos had minimal impact on language development and that linking baby videos to decreased language development was not well supported by the data.<ref>{{cite journal\|author1 = Christopher J. Ferguson\|author2 = M. B. Donnellan\|title = Is the association between children's baby video viewing and poor language development robust? A reanalysis of Zimmerman, Christakis, and Meltzoff (2007)\|journal = Developmental Psychology\|year = 2013\|volume = 50\|issue = 1\|pages = 129–137\|url = http://www.christopherjferguson.com/Baby%20Videos.pdf\|doi = 10.1037/a0033628\|pmid = 23855259}}</ref>

	==See also==
	* ]

	==References==
	{{Reflist\|2}}

	==External links==
	*

	{{Disney}}
	{{Authority control}}		{{Authority control}}
	]		]

Revision as of 23:51, 28 September 2022

Line of multimedia products and toys for children aged 1 month to 4 years

This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. Please help improve this article and add independent sources. (February 2022)

Baby Einstein
File:Baby Einstein Logo.svgLogo used from 1996 to 2013
Industry	Early child entertainment
Founded	1996; 29 years ago (1996)
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Key people	Julie Aigner-Clark (Founder)
Owner	Julie Aigner-Clark
Parent	The Walt Disney Company (2001–13) Kids II, Inc. (2013–present)
Website	BabyEinstein.com

Baby Einstein (stylized as baby einstein) is an American franchise and line of multimedia products, including home video programs, CDs, books, flashcards, toys, and baby gear that specialize in interactive activities for infants, toddlers and preschoolers aged 3 or lower, created by Julie Aigner-Clark.

The videos show babies, toddlers and preschoolers under four years simple patterns, puppet shows, and familiar objects, such as everyday items, animals, and toys that are often accompanied by reorchestrated classical music written by composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and many others, as well as some traditional rhymes constructed for an easy, relaxing way, meant for a baby's ear.

The video series is known for its puppets, which are all animals who seldom speak, mostly communicating in simple sounds and their respective animal sounds.

Baby Einstein was introduced to the public on June 4, 1996, and remained a small company until Clark sold it to Disney. Between November 7, 2001, and September 13, 2013, Disney owned and operated the Baby Einstein brand. Starting on October 14, 2013, Kids II, Inc. owns and operates the Baby Einstein brand.

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History

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The Baby Einstein Company was founded in 1996 by former teacher and stay-at-home mom Julie Aigner-Clark at her home in suburban Alpharetta, Georgia, as I Think I Can Productions. Clark was a mix of a stay-at-home mom and former teacher, with a passion to expose children to the arts. According to an interview with Julie Dunn, she wanted her babies to be exposed to classical music, poetry, colors, shapes, and more. Aigner-Clark and her husband invested $18,000 of their savings to produce the initial product, a VHS they named Baby Einstein and later sold as Language Nursery in 2002 to avoid confusion with the Baby Einstein brand as a whole.

The original video shows a variety of toys and visuals interspersed with music, stories, numbers, and words of many languages. Eventually, the video was marketed across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It even won the 1997 Parenting Magazine award for Best Video of the Year. Other videos followed, some featuring the Clarks' two daughters, Aspen and Sierra, as well as other children.

It quickly became a multimillion-dollar franchise; its revenue grew from $1 million in 1998 to $25 million in 2001. In October 1998, Julie Aigner-Clark renamed the company the Baby Einstein Company, and on February 10, 2000, Artisan Entertainment announced they had acquired a minority stake in the company in exchange for a three-year North American home video distribution agreement for the Baby Einstein catalogue.

On November 6, 2001, The Walt Disney Company announced they had acquired The Baby Einstein Company for an undisclosed amount.

In 2003-2004, the original Baby Einstein videos were re-produced and edited as well as the product label, discontinuing the selling of the original issues of the videos.

The concept and popularity of Baby Einstein expanded as a Disney property. Educational toys and additional videos were developed. Baby Einstein was also the source of inspiration for a preschool-aimed television series called Little Einsteins, created jointly by the Disney-owned Baby Einstein Company and Curious Pictures. The series aired episodes on Playhouse Disney (later rebranded as Disney Junior).

The success of Baby Einstein was estimated to be nearly $400 million based on revenues. Julie was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" and won various awards, and one in three U.S. households with babies were found to own at least one Baby Einstein product. It received positive media and Aigner-Clark appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and USA Today, among others. President George W. Bush mentioned the Baby Einstein Company in his 2007 State of the Union address, which Aigner-Clark was invited to attend.

In 2008, Clark, along with actress Jennifer Garner, hosted a tenth anniversary party for Baby Einstein. Clark had also announced plans to launch a toddler brand called Einstein Pals, including videos, but it has since been abandoned.

As a result of Baby Einstein being named after Albert Einstein, royalties had to be paid to Corbis which compensates the Einstein estate. This made Einstein one of the top five earning dead celebrities.

On October 14, 2013, The Walt Disney Company announced they had sold the Baby Einstein brand to Kids II, Inc., a longtime licensee of the property.

VERRIER, RICHARD (2001-11-07). "Disney Buys Toy Maker, Publisher Baby Einstein". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
Conrad Gothie, Sarah (December 2006). "'Great Minds Start Little': Unpacking the Baby Einstein Phenomenon": 10. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Dunn, Julie. "Bringing up Baby Einstein." New York Times, 11 Nov. 2001, p. BU. Gale Academic OneFile,
"80 Percent of Parents Feel Children Under the Age of Five Should Be Exposed to Classical Music." PR Newswire, 10 Aug. 2000, p. 0870. Gale Academic OneFile
Eric Hubler (March 12, 1999). "Baby videos spell big money Mom turns 'Einstein' into million-dollar enterprise". Denver Post.
Daisy Whitney (May 30, 2001). "Nurturing a 'Baby' boom Littleton woman's line of videos, CDs a hit with children". Denver Post.
"Artisan Entertainment Acquires Rights to Distribute Branded Developmental Series From The Baby Einstein Company". Business Wire. February 10, 2000.
"Artisan's Small Step ; Inks Deal with Baby Einstein Co. For Kids' Videos". 11 February 2000.
"The Walt Disney Company Acquires the Baby Einstein Company". 6 November 2001.
"Baby Einstein(TM) Founder Julie Clark and Jennifer Garner Host 10th Anniversary Celebration - Business Wire". businesswire.com. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
"Apply for a Trademark. Search a Trademark". trademarkia.com. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
"Cobain is the new Elvis (Most earning dead celebrities)". Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-10-25. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
License! Global (October 14, 2013). "Kids II Purchases Baby Einstein". License! Global.

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