Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

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Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is a United States "national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, parents, and individuals who care about children [and is] the only national organization devoted to limiting the impact of commercial culture on children." [1] The group was founded by Susan Linn. It sponsors the annual Fred Rogers Integrity Award [2] and the TOADY Award. [3]

Contents

CCFC concerns include catalogs for children that might be inappropriate [4] and child privacy rights. [5]

In 2021, it was rebranded as Fairplay.

FTC Baby Einstein complaint

In May 2006, the CCFC filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against the Baby Einstein Company and the Brainy Baby Company, a producer of similar videos; [6] the following month the CCFC amended the complaint to include another producer, BabyFirstTV. [6] The CCFC alleged false advertising by these companies, citing the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation that children under two should be discouraged from watching television programming at all, [7] and a study showing that only six percent of parents are aware of that recommendation, [8] [9] while forty-nine percent of parents think educational videos like these are very important in the intellectual development of children.

In December 2007, the FTC closed the complaint, determining not to recommend any enforcement action against the company. In so doing, the FTC noted that certain of the claims that were the subject of the CCFC’s complaint did not raise issues under the FTC’s substantiation rules. [10]

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References

  1. "About the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood". Commercialfreechildhood.org. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008.
  2. "Events | Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood". Commercialfreechildhood.org. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  3. "Take Action | Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood". Commercialfreechildhood.org. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  4. Goodison, Donna (July 13, 2010). "Retailer's racy catalog to return". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01.
  5. "Debate Looms Over Teens' Privacy Rights on the Web". Fox News. 2010-07-07. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  6. 1 2 Baby Einstein & Brainy Baby FTC Complaint Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine , Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood website, retrieved Dec. 15, 2008
  7. American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Public Education (February 2001). "Children, Adolescents, and Television (policy statement)". Pediatrics . 107 (2): 423–426. doi: 10.1542/peds.107.2.423 . PMID   11158483. Archived from the original on 2010-07-06. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  8. Josh Golin (January 2007). "Putting the Book Back in Book Fair". Mothering. Archived from the original on 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
  9. Michelle M. Garrison; Dimitri A. Christakis. "New Report on Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers". Kaiser Family Foundation . Retrieved 2007-08-13.
  10. Federal Trade Commission Closing Letter to counsel for the Baby Einstein Company, December 5, 2007, retrieved July 9, 2008