Infants and toddlers who watch too much TV now have their own line of college football DVDs, courtesy of Houston’s Team Baby Entertainment.
From Lini S. Kadaba of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
“You talk about getting them young? We’re getting them young,” said Lee Corso, an analyst with ESPN’s College GameDay, who lends his grandfatherly voice to Baby Nittany Lion.
“The difference between college and professional football is the passion and tradition,” Corso said. “This is perfect to pass that tradition on.”
Through repetition of simple words, phrases and images, Sesame Street-style, the Houston company – bought last summer by Michael Eisner, former head of the Walt Disney entertainment empire – promises to “raise tomorrow’s fan today” by exposing infants and toddlers to team mascots, songs, colors and more.
“This is blue,” Corso intones slo-o-wly on the disc. Blue pom-poms twirl. “This is white.” A sea of white-clad Penn Staters chants.
(Doesn’t seem fair that the two year-olds enjoy a level of discourse superior to that of GameDay itself.)
In the last year, Penn State fans outpaced those from everywhere but Ohio State in requesting their own DVD, said Team Baby founder Greg Scheinman, who launched the privately held company’s line with the University of Texas, followed by Midwestern schools. The former TV and production guy got the Team Baby idea when he couldn’t find a product to instill a love of University of Michigan sports in his toddler.
Now, Scheinman said, “my son has a tremendous identity crisis.” The 4-year-old has watched Baby Wolverine – and the company’s 21 other collegiate titles – and made cameos in several. Mostly, Scheinman said, he’s just “captivated by mascots and marching bands.”
This kid is sooooo going to Oberlin (if not Ohio State).
watch it with the Oberlin bashing.
Thanks for the write up! I certainly hope infants and toddlers are not watching “too much tv” but rather if they’re watching anything, and this is just my opinion, it should be very limited viewing and the content should be appropriate for them. Our products have received great response and for that i’m deeply appreciative. What we truly hope for is to be able to encourage interaction between families and their children. Watch together…learn together…cheer together…In a healthy, entertaining and interactive manner and in moderation. The teams we use and the products we produce use the teams as a vehicle to introduce everything from colors to shapes to numbers and much more. They’ve been recognized by the dove foundation, parenting magazine and KidsFirst. Oberlin’s a great school and should my son choose to attend that university, i’m all for him following his dreams…However, i’d prefer Michigan:) Continued success with your blog. Regards, Greg Scheinman CEO Team Baby Entertainment