FTC and Your Baby Can Read Come To Partial Agreement

Have you ever seen the TV commercials for Your Baby Can Read, it is a series of books and DVDs that claim to be able to teach infants to recognize and read words. The claims, which many doubted to begin with, have been under investigation by the FTC for some time and this week they have reached an agreement with two of the three parties involved in the allegations of outrageous claims in their advertising.

The FTC released a statement about the settlement that was made, “The FTC complaint charges Your Baby Can, LLC, its former CEO, and the product’s creator with false and deceptive advertising, for claims in ads and product packaging that the program could teach infants and toddlers to read and that scientific studies proved the claims.  The complaint also charges company principal and product creator Robert Titzer, Ph.D, with making deceptive expert endorsements.  Your Baby Can and Titzer represented that the program taught children as young as nine months old to read; gave children an early start on academic learning, making them more successful in life than those who didn’t use it; and that scientific studies proved these claims, according to the complaint. In addition to Titzer and Your Baby Can, the complaint names as a defendant Hugh Penton, Jr., who served as president and chief executive officer of the company until March 2010. Penton and Your Baby Can have agreed to settle the FTC’s charges.  The agency is initiating litigation against Titzer in federal court.”

When you look at the Your Baby Can Read site only the following message remains, “Your Baby Can, LLC has shut down all operations and is no longer in business. The developer of Your Baby Can Read!, Robert Titzer, Ph.D. has decided to take over maintenance of the Your Baby Can Read! website and of the Facebook page going forward.Your Baby Can, LLC, is no longer connected or affiliated with Robert Titzer, Ph.D. or his company the Infant Learning Company. We would like to take this final opportunity to thank all customers who supported Your Baby Can, LLC over the years.”