‘Your Baby Can Read’ Ads Were Deceptive, FTC Alleges
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Many of us, including Staten Island residents and business people, have seen or heard the ads claiming Your Baby Can Read!
In an effort to help our readers avoid wasting money due to misleading ads, Victory State Bank is sharing the following news from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
The FTC has filed false advertising charges against the marketers of Your Baby Can Read! – a program that was widely touted in infomercials and on the Internet.
The program uses videos, flash cards, and pop-up books that supposedly teach children as young as nine months old how to read. Two of the three defendants in the case have agreed to settle with the FTC.
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.
About Victory State Bank:
VSB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSBN) is the one-bank holding company for Victory State Bank. As Staten Island, N.Y.’s only community-based commercial bank, Victory State Bank operates five full-service locations on the Island: The main office in the community of Great Kills, and branches in the communities of West Brighton, St. George, Dongan Hills and Rosebank. For additional information, Victory State Bank may be reached at 718-979-1100 or visited online http://www.victorystatebank.com .
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