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| {{Infobox company | |||
| |name = The Baby Einstein Company | |||
| |logo = ] | |||
| |foundation = ] (1996) | |||
| |defunct = | |||
| |caption = '''''"Great minds start little"''''' | |||
| |location = ], ], ] | |||
| |key_people = | |||
| {{ublist |Julie Clark (Founder) |Susan McLain (Manager) |Nadeem Zaidi (Graphics)}} | |||
| |industry = Infant entertainment | |||
| |parent = ] | |||
| |homepage = | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Baby Einstein''' is a line of ] products and ]s that specialize in interactive activities for ]ers below 4 years of age. These products are currently made by a division of ]. | |||
| The videos have been described as "] for babies", but research shows that they do not necessarily increase youngsters' vocabularies, which led Disney to offer refunds to parents whose children did not improve.<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}}</ref> | |||
| ==History== | |||
| The '''Baby Einstein Company''' was founded in 1997 by former teacher and ] Julie Aigner-Clark at her home in suburban ], ], as '''I Think I Can Productions'''.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO0eqXc1ous</ref> 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''. | |||
| 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 ], ], ], and ]. Other videos followed, some featuring the Clarks' two ]s, as well as other children. All videos feature toys by Ambi, Brio, Folkmanis, Dakin, Chimes, Battat, Tomy, Legends, and Lore, among others. | |||
| It became a multimillion-dollar ]; its revenue grew from $1 million in 1998<ref>{{cite news|work =Denver Post| title=Baby videos spell big money Mom turns 'Einstein' into million-dollar enterprise| author=Eric Hubler| date=March 12, 1999 }}</ref> to $25 million in 2001.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nurturing a 'Baby' boom Littleton woman's line of videos, CDs a hit with children| work=Denver Post| date=May 30, 2001 |author=Daisy Whitney}}</ref> In January 1998 Aigner-Clark renamed the company the Baby Einstein Company, and in February 2000 sold a 20% stake in the company to ] and ], while selling the rest to ] in November 2001.<ref>{{cite news|title= Artisan Entertainment Acquires Rights to Distribute Branded Developmental Series From The Baby Einstein Company| date=February 10, 2000 | work =Business Wire}}</ref> | |||
| As a Disney ], production budgets increased and the concept was expanded; it also developed a line of educational toys. In 2005, it inspired a ] ] called '']''. Named after ], the company had to pay substantial ] to ], which compensates the Einstein ], making him 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|accessdate=2008-08-13|author= | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080905014203/http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/cobain-is-the-new-elvis/2006/10/25/1161699375968.html| archivedate= 5 September 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref> | |||
| In 2009, the brand 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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} It received positive media and Aigner-Clark appeared on the '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']'', among others. President ] mentioned the Baby Einstein Company in his 2007 ] address, which Aigner-Clark was invited to attend.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} | |||
| The final ''Baby Einstein'' video, called "World Animal Adventure", was released on September 29, 2009. '']'' stopped production on December 22, 2009. ] sold Baby Einstein to ] in October 2013.<ref name="License! Global">{{cite news |url=http://www.licensemag.com/license-global/kids-ii-purchases-baby-einstein|author =License! Global|date=October 14, 2013 |title=Kids II Purchases Baby Einstein |work =License! Global }}</ref> Julie Aigner-Clark no longer owns or operates the company but has been involved in other startups including The Safe Side, JoyBox, and the Soft Skin Company. | |||
| ==Controversies== | |||
| ===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>, 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 |url=http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;107/2/423 |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}}</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| accessdate=2007-08-13| author=Josh Golin |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070812174744/http://www.mothering.com/guest_editors/kids_commercialism/kids_commercialism.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-08-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia121405pkg.cfm |title=New Report on Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers|author=Michelle M. Garrison and Dimitri A. Christakis| publisher=] |accessdate=2007-08-13 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070902235706/http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia121405pkg.cfm| archivedate= 2 September 2007 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</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/> However, the websites of Baby Einstein in languages other than English are not all modified in the same way. For example, its official Chinese website still contains the product effect statement as "For example, the ''Baby Van Gogh'' released by us can initiate your baby's interest and recognition of colors."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.babyeinstein.com/cn/OurProducts.shtml|title=产品介绍 ("Product Introduction")|accessdate=2008-08-22}} ("例如我们已经发行的《小小梵高－色彩的世界》影片DVD，就能启发宝宝们对颜色的兴趣和认识。" ("For example, the ''Baby Van Gogh'' released by us can initiate your baby's interest and recognition of colors."))</ref> | |||
| ===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/> 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 news|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 |work =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 the ], 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= ] |format =PDF}}</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 |accessdate=2007-08-13| work =The Consumerist |date=2007-08-13|author=Meg Marco}}</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 news|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=]| work =Time | date=2006-01-08 | accessdate=2007-08-14|format=PDF}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://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 }}</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|author=Frederick J. Zimmerman, Dimitri A. Christakis, and Andrew N. Meltzoff| 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|format=PDF|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|accessdate=2007-08-13| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070926235429/http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/13853586/detail.html| archivedate= 26 September 2007 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</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 | work=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= ] |url= http://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| url=http://www.christopherjferguson.com/Baby%20Videos.pdf| |format=PDF}}</ref> | |||
| ==Products== | |||
| ===Videos=== | |||
| * Baby Einstein - Language Nursery (1997)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Mozart - Music Festival (1998)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Bach - Musical Adventure (1999)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Shakespeare - World of Poetry (1999)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Van Gogh - World of Colors (2000)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Santa's Music Box (2000)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Dolittle - Neighborhood Animals (2001)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Beethoven - Symphony of Fun (2002)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Dolittle - World Animals (2002)<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Einstein-World-Animals/dp/B00006SFM1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434859410&sr=8-1&keywords=Baby+Dolittle+-+World+Animals</ref> | |||
| * Baby Newton - All About Shapes (2002)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Einstein - Numbers Nursery (2003) | |||
| * Baby Galileo - Discovering the Sky (2003) | |||
| * Baby Neptune - Discovering Water (2003)<ref></ref> | |||
| * Baby Da Vinci - From Head to Toe (2004) | |||
| * Baby MacDonald - A Day On The Farm (2004) | |||
| * Baby Noah - Animal Expedition (2004) | |||
| * Baby Monet - Discovering the Seasons (2005) | |||
| * Baby Wordsworth - First Words: Around the House (2005) | |||
| * Meet the Orchestra - First Instruments (2005) | |||
| * On the Go - Riding, Sailing and Soaring (2005) | |||
| * Baby's Favorite Places - First Words: Around Town (2006) | |||
| * Baby's First Moves (2006) | |||
| * Discovering Shapes (2007) | |||
| * Lullaby Time (2007) | |||
| * My First Signs (2007) | |||
| * Baby's First Sounds: Discoveries for Little Ears (2008) | |||
| * World Animal Adventure (2009) | |||
| * World Music (2009) | |||
| === Discovery Kits === | |||
| * Baby Beethoven (2010) | |||
| * Baby Mozart (2010) | |||
| * Animals Around Me (2010) | |||
| * Wild Animal Safari (2010) | |||
| * World of Colors (2010) | |||
| * World of Words (2010) | |||
| * World of Rhythm (2011) | |||
| * Neptune's Oceans (2011) | |||
| * Baby Lullaby (2011) | |||
| ==TV Productions== | |||
| * ] (2005-2009) | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * Disney's Official Baby Einstein DVD listing | |||
| * | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 02:42, 21 January 2016
