According to a new offer from Disney, they will allow anyone who purchased a Baby Einstein DVD between June 5, 2004 and Sept. 4, 2009 a refund of $15.99. But all you parents out there, don't be fooled with the prospect of easy money back. You have to go into a store, look a minimum-wage earning teenage cashier in the eye, admit your child is still stupid and your IQ isn't much higher because you believe everything you read. Now do you still want that $15.99?

At some point we need to reverse the course of our social stupidity and return to a level of intelligence that still incorporates a modicum of common sense. There are competing arguments that Disney did or did not do this as a result of an FTC claim in which it was shown that "screen media" does not educate infants. Are you serious? I thought MTV and Hollywood were responsible for every act of child violence in America. I thought Janet Jackson and Bill Clinton exposed unprepared children to a realm of sex and deviance never before seen in human history. Didn't Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne cause the Columbine school shooting? Oh wait. I suppose not. Screen media doesn't educate infants.

So here's how this scenario plays out... Daddy Dan wants his child to be a genius. He sees a Baby Einstein DVD that makes a marketing claim to educate children. Daddy Dan thinks, "hmmm, must be true. Its in print." He buys the full 26-DVD collection for a billion dollars (Disney isn't known for thrifty prices). A month later, his kids have watched every DVD but haven't quite split the atom or cured prostate cancer. Daddy Dan is furious, throws them (the DVDs, not the kids) into a box, marches back to the Disney Store and says, "I was lied to! I'm still a moron and so are my kids! I want my money back."

Some folks got more money than sense.

Reference article from Brandweek: http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/retail-restaurants/e3i5d92320f49c835bcaac95e8f2cb9a156?imw=Y