Walt Disney demands retraction from UW over controversial press release
Walt Disney has demanded an immediate retraction and clarification of a press release issued by the University of Washington (UW) about the publication of a study by three University researchers entitled “Associations Between Media Viewing and Language Development in Children Under Age 2 Years”.
Robert A. Iger, President and CEO of Walt Disney, described the press statement as misleading, irresponsible and derogatory.
In a letter to UW President Mark Emmert, Iger said :
“The press release issued by your University blatantly misrepresented what the study was about, distorted the actual findings and conclusions that the study purported to make, and ignored the study’s own explicit acknowledgment of its limitations and shortcomings. And even worse, the University issued the release and triggered the fully foreseeable press cycle before the study itself could be analyzed. In short, the University’s press release was grossly unfair, extremely damaging, and, to be blunt, just plain wrong in every conceivable sense”.
The controversial press statement issued by UW last week entitled “Baby DVDs, videos may hinder, not help infants’ language development,” state that…
“Despite marketing claims, parents who want to give their infants a boost in learning language probably should limit the amount of time they expose their children to DVD’s and videos such as and ‘Brainy Baby’. Rather than helping babies, the over-use of such productions actually may slow down infants eight to 16 months of age when it comes to acquiring vocabulary, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute.”
Iger argues that there are fundamental problems with the above press statements:
First, while “Baby Einstein” videos were specifically mentioned in the press release, the study on which the press released was based did not attempt to study the effects of watching “Baby Einstein” videos.
Second, the study’s findings did not support the assertion in the press release that “parents who want to give their infants a boost in learning language probably should limit the amount of time they expose their children to DVD’s and videos such as “Baby Einstein”.
Third, the study did not evaluate “marketing claims” made by or on behalf of “Baby Einstein” videos and yet the press statement criticized “Baby Einstein” marketing.
Iger’s letter and the offending press release are now being reviewed by University officials.
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August 14th, 2007
I suppose that Disney would prfer that children get used to the sight and sound of their products so they will be predisposed to ask for, or buy, them later in life. Personally, I don’t think it is a good idea to expose such young children to ANY commercial products. To do so would be irresponsible of the parents, and to encourage it by commercial interests is just plain sick. Children that young simply cannot give consent and they need to be nurtured, not brainwashed.