San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

LOL.

*Well, first off, you're kid shouldn't be watching tv if he/she is <=2 years old. So if he/she is extensively, that is the first issue.

*If you, as a parent, actually spent $15.99 on each "Baby Einstein" DVD thinking it would make your kids smarter, LOL deux.

*Triple LOL, if you bought a 10-DVD gift set from places like costco or walmart.

*But never fear...Bad decisions are never your fault in the U.S. of A....It's always the big bad corporate monsters...If you respond before March 2010, you can return up to 4 DVD's to Disney and they will credit you $15.99 per DVD (up to 4 per household/per mailing address).

Because there is so much "bailout" going on, I figure I'd make it easy for some of you parents out there that "got taken advantage of". Afterall, it's ok. It's not your fault. Someone told you that if you didn't buy those DVDs, your kid would turn into a moron..In fact, other parents that sunk money into the DVDs threatened to report you to child protection services if you didn't buy them because you were endangering your 1-2 year old's development without them..(Truth be told they were just pissed for spending good money on this crap, which they realized afrter actually watched the contents on those DVDs and figuring out they could have made something similiar with their own video camera, a tape recorder playing music in the background, and some shiny objects from the local Michaels...They just wanted you to sink the same amount of money into these worthless coffee coasters as they did).

Refund application here:
http://www.babyeinstein.com/parentsguide...

NOTE: please don't go scavaging garage sales and picking up used DVD's for like 50cents and trying to turn them into a $15.99 refund. Though the percentage return on investments would exceed most of your 401k's this year, (a) it's not practical and (b) it's not ethical.

And, no I don't own a single copy. I just remember these were touted as "necessary educational dvd's for infants"...What a utter load of crap...supporting once again my belief that the American consumer does not need to purchase over 75% of what they think is "needed" for their child's development.

Here is the "complaint":

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/20...

Disney Offers Baby Einstein Refunds

A chastened Disney is offering refunds to consumers who own a copy of the company’s “Baby Einstein” video, bowing to pressure from a parents group that says the video is more likely to turn children into Baby Alfred E. Neumans.

Disney’s move allows anyone who bought a Baby Einstein video between June 5, 2004 and September 4, 2009 to get their money back. Alternatively, consumers can trade their DVD in for a Baby Einstein book or CD, or redeem it for a 25 percent discount on future Baby Einstein purchases. The offer is good through March 4, 2010.

For years the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), a group fighting to “reclaim childhood from corporate marketers,” has said the videos don’t live up to Disney’s promises.

In 2006, the CCFC filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that Disney’s claims about the videos’ supposed educational benefits amounted to false and deceptive advertising. The complaint pointed out that the American Academy of Pediatricians recommends no TV at all for children under two, regardless of content. The CCFC thus reasoned that the videos may in fact damage, rather than promote, children’s intellectual development.

In response to the CCFC’s complaint, Baby Einstein agreed to overhaul its marketing materials to eliminate any unsubstantiated claims about the videos’ potential benefits. The company also removed parent “testimonials” from its website. In light of these actions, the FTC declined to pursue the matter further, a development that left the CCFC “deeply troubled.”

Susan Linn, a CCFC director and psychologist, said Disney’s latest move is an “acknowledgment that baby videos are not educational.” The group’s website calls the turn of events “another CCFC victory” and reemphasized the lack of “credible evidence that any screen media is educational for children under two.”

Not going quietly
While the CCFC clearly won the day, Disney isn’t going quietly. Susan McLain, the general manager of Baby Einstein, released a statement choc full of sour grapes, framing the refund arrangement as a last-resort tactic in a war against “propaganda groups taking extreme positions.” McLain focused her venom on Linn, asserting that the matter should have been settled after the previous FTC complaint was put to rest, but that the Linn’s “attacks continued and escalated despite the fact that her assertions have no merit.”

The statement closed with the obligatory labeling of the CCFC’s actions as a “smear campaign.”

The CCFC, based in Boston, operates under the notion that most problems facing children – including obesity, substance abuse, and violence – can be traced back to the rampant commercialization of society. The group seeks to fight the “‘me first’ attitude” promoted by corporate marketing.

Disney bought Baby Einstein in November 2001, when the company was already a multi-million dollar franchise. Julie Aigner-Clark, who founded the company in 1997, made headlines two years ago when President Bush pointed her out during his State of the Union Address. The recognition seemed arbitrary at best, given that Clark shared the moment with, among others, Wesley Autrey, who leapt in front of a subway train to save a homeless man languishing on the tracks. It was later revealed that Clark’s husband contributed over $5,000 to Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign.