FTC: 'Your Baby Can Read' Uses False Advertising

Don't believe everything you read.

Specifically, don't believe advertising that promotes Your Baby Can Read.

So says the Federal Trade Commission, which has filed a complaint against Your Baby Can Read principal Robert Titzer of false and deceptive advertising for promoting a program as a tool to teach infants as young as 9 months old to read.

Two other defendants, including the company's president and CEO until March 2010, settled with the FTC for $185 million, equal to the firm's gross sales since January 2008. The FTC says it will continue to pursue Titzer, the company's principal and product creator, in the U.S. District Court for the southern district of California.

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"The Commission's action send a strong message to media marketers who falsely hype the educational benefits of their products and exploit parents' natural tendency to want the best for their children," said Dr. Susan Linn, the director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the nonprofit watchdog group that filed an FTC complaint against Your Baby Can in April 2011.

"We urge the producers of other screen media marketed for babies to take note of today's landmark decision."

Do you have any experience with the Your Baby Can Read products? Drop us a line with your thoughts on the FTC's complaint.