Breaking News - Baby Einstein is issuing full refunds on their DVDs

If you've purchased a Baby Einstein DVD any time in the last five years, you're entitled to a full refund, due to the work of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood which thinks that mayyyybe they don't exactly make babies into Einsteins.

We're all for videos as entertainment, or to give moms a chance to jump in the shower -- provided you know that it's just that, and not an opportunity for your baby's IQ to leap 45 points while you sneak in a shave.

For full details, see this page on Disney's Baby Einstein Website which explains how to either get your money back, or trade to a book or CD of your choice. And actually, some of those CDs are quite nice. -Liz

UPDATE 11/26/09:  A response from Susan McLain, the GM of the Baby Einstein Company:

Parents,

For the past several years, Baby Einstein has been under attack by propaganda groups taking extreme positions that try to dictate what parents should do, say and buy. Our philosophy has always been to focus on creating products that parents and babies love, and to not get sidetracked and pulled down into their street fight. Unfortunately, with Susan Linn's latest stunt, we cannot be silent any longer.

 

Linn's obvious dislike for Baby Einstein has now turned into a sensational, headline-grabbing publicity campaign that seeks to twist and spin a simple, customer satisfaction action into a false admission of guilt. This is clearly not the case.

Linn's moves are carefully crafted to prey on parental guilt and uncertainty. This time, she began by asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to go after Baby Einstein because, she said, we claimed that Baby Einstein was educational. But we do not make any such claim - and the FTC brought no action.

Not content to rely on the judgment of the federal government, her attacks continued and escalated despite the fact that her assertions have no merit.

That's where we are today. However, we took a very different approach. We strongly believe that, unlike Linn, our consumers find value in our product, and rather than continue to fight with her, we decided it to leave it up to those consumers. That is why we extended a refund policy that was already in place. Although she would like to claim otherwise, there is nothing extraordinary about a company's willingness to stand behind its product. To the contrary, it is the strongest possible show of confidence in it.

Baby Einstein announced this offer in a press release issued on September 4, 2009, which was largely ignored by the media. Linn's latest public relations blitz simply distorts the facts and misleads the public. In the end, this smear campaign has everything to do with Linn trying to generate ink and funding for her cause, and not about the value that consumers find in our product.

Thank you for letting us set the record straight.

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