FTC: "Your Baby Can Read" ads deceptive

This undated handout image provided by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows an advertisement for the `Your Baby Can Read' program. / AP Photo/FTC

(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - Many babies at 9 months old are just starting to stand up. Some take their first steps. But, reading? At 9 months? Really?

The Federal Trade Commission doesn't think so.

The agency has filed a complaint against the man behind the "Your Baby Can Read" program, Robert Titzer. The FTC accuses him of false and deceptive advertising for promoting his program in ads and product packaging as a tool to teach infants as young as nine months to read.

The "Your Baby Can Read" program used a combination of videos, flash cards and pop-up books and was advertised extensively on television, YouTube, Facebook (FB) and Twitter. It cost about $200 and was sold nationwide at retails stores, including Walmart (WMT) and Babies R Us.

The company Your Baby Can and its president and chief executive until March 2010, Hugh Penton Jr., also were named in the complaint. Both have agreed to settle the charges, the FTC said in a statement on Tuesday.

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Titzer and Your Baby Can said previously that the company had "scientific studies" to back up its claims. The FTC says those studies were flawed.

"The settlement with Penton and Your Baby Can, LLC prohibits the Carlsbad, California-based defendants from further use of the term 'Your Baby Can Read.' The settlement also imposes a $185 million judgment, which equals the company's gross sales since January 2008," the FTC said.

The company, based in Carlsbad, Calif., announced earlier this year that it was going out of business. It cited the high cost of fighting complaints alleging that its ads were false.

Titzer, an educator with a doctorate in human performance from Indiana University, developed the program and appeared in many of the ads promoting the Your Baby Can Read videos and program. He was billed as a "recognized expert in infant learning."

Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood filed a complaint about "Your Baby Can Read" with the commission in April 2011. The advocacy group has led a series of campaigns against what critics call the "genius baby" industry.

CCFC's director, Susan Linn, called the FTC action "an important victory for children and families and for anyone who believes that advertisers should be held accountable for deceiving consumers. There is simply no evidence that screen media is beneficial for babies."

The company had said more than a million families have used the "Your Baby Can Read" products. One 30-minute television infomercial featured home video of a 2-year-old girl who used the program and was purportedly reading a page from the children's book, "Charlotte's Web."

me? i've never used this, so far me and my husband don't have a baby yet. But sooner. I will buy this program and that's on my mind already. I dont think this fails. Because while babies are growing, they are also learning. Instead of letting them watch with those cartoon tv shows especially the nonsense spongebob. What I think about the campaigne who filed the case is that they probably trying to get some money with those people (baby can read). I dont know. well for me? I will still try this soon.

[kdoucet1]

It is funny how most of these people bashing it I'm sure have never used it.

We did, we liked it and it does work when you actually use it like you are supposed to. LIttle kids are smarted then grown ups think. Ive taught my and 4 year old how to tell time just from memorization just like the your baby can read stuff. They can identify many words.
The only thing I wish Your baby can read had added was Sight words. IT IS MEMORIZATION OF WORDs they learn the ones they have seen if they have never seen that word before they might have a hard time reading it early on. Oldest son is in Kindergarden and he is top in his class on reading and spelling.

[daynahboo]

As with anything else, if you want to teach your baby or child something, you take the time and effort to do it. Reading is no different. A child learns by memory first by repetition, then they will eventually recognize those things in other contexts. Your Baby Can Read is just an expensive tool to help do something you can do yourself. You can make your own flashcards, sing your own songs and do the motions yourself- with your child. It's not that complicated, it just takes effort and time. Anyone who spends quality time with their child, whether they use the system or not, will benefit their child and themselves. Let's keep our priorities straight- raising healthy, happy, independent and productive people! Lots of love, time, sharing and teaching (with whatever tool you choose) is what's important and will help your child grow intellectually and emotionally. So, I can see where this system can help, but it's not really the program itself that teaches the baby to read, it's the one who is taking the time to teach and move forward to more stimulating tools as the child gets older and more advanced. I don't believe people should make false claims, though. Maybe, had they worded their ads differently it would have worked out better for them professionally.

[MNmom8]

This worked for my daughter. Before age two she could recognize and say the words from the DVDs, books and flashcards. By age three she could read. We were consistent with the program and we have results. We keep it fun and do not pressure her. She is four now and loves reading.

[tpsdiamond]

Bob Titzer's "Your Baby Can Read is the real deal. He is not the first to emphasize that an infant, with the repeated proper stimuli and guidance, can read. The book "Teach Your Baby to Read" by Glenn Doman, which came out in the 1960s along with books such as "Teach Your Baby Math," encouraged parents via a systematic use of flash cards to help enrich the child's brain. Babies then and now, if these principles are followed, can learn how to read.

Bob Titzer added the use of a video along with flash cards.

The process of teaching a child to read is a significant commitment for parents. It seems that this commitment is more vigorous than many of his detractors are willing to perform, else they would not be so quick to criticize his statements and diminish his accomplishments.

By 24 months of age my son could read virtually anything. He began college at age 13 and earned his Master's degree as a 19-year-old from George Washington University.

[shayshay0302]

This DOES work! I've been using this since my son was 3.5 months old. He turns 6 months this weekend. He DOES recognize the words, the sounds and the pics/hand gestures associated with the words. The folks that this program is NOT working for are the ones that don't follow the schedule as it takes a serious time commitment to have your baby watch the videos 1-2 times a day and use the flash cards. The parents of whom this program does not work are usually the ones that have not been consistent with it... then the complaints follow. It appears that many of the parents complaining have not even TRIED it. They are just stating their OPINION that a baby should not sit in front of a screen and it is harmful to them??!!! This is baseless B.S. The FTC state that there is no PROOF that this works. Well they need to do a search on YouTube and watch the countless amount of babies that have had success with it. I still have not seen the FTC state that they had PROOF that it is "harmful" and DOES NOT work. I feel bad for Dr. Titzer. I am personally seeing great results and I stand by it.

[sneha456]

Its really <a href="http://vhgfashdfhd.com">interesting</a>

[john92021]

Scary, people being that gullible, think of all the other crap they buy into.

[taxchurches]

"False and dceptive?" Like every ad on TV? Fast food that is good and healthy? Oil companies that care about the environment? Honest politicians? Cosmetics that make you attractive? What a shocker. But it's hardly surprising that people stupid enough to spawn indiscriminately believe something this stupid.

[FlyingGoat]

No, no...those ads are entirely different. Those fast food ads are merely false, but not deceptive. The oil company ads, on the other hand, are deceptive, but not false. I'll grant you the politicians and the cosmetics, though. :)

[hypnotoad72]

More like "Con Your Baby, LLC".

Good luck with that conartist group, who seem to believe they can show the amount of research done over the decades as being false... and make them a "LC", since "Limited" would be too "Lenient"... deceiving others for greed has no limits, it seems...