Kars4Kids ad banned in California for false advertising : NPR

Kars4Kids ads, like this TV ad on a hot pink set, feature kids turning the nonprofit’s phone number into a catchy jingle. But they don’t disclose that most of the profits go to a Jewish nonprofit that supports programs for young adults.

Kars4Kids/Screenshot by NPR

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Kars4Kids/Screenshot by NPR

The “Kars4Kids” jingle — with its catchy melody and high-pitched pre-teen singers — has been firmly ingrained in the heads of many Americans for two decades. But the broadcast could soon be halted in California after a judge banned it for being “misleading.”

Orange County Superior Court Judge Gassia Apkarian ruled earlier this month that the ad violated California’s laws against unfair competition and false advertising because it did not disclose Kars4Kids’ religious affiliation.

The case made headlines with the jingle – and the charity behind it. And it inspired us to check out some other nostalgic favorites (more on that below).

The Kars4Kids case, explained

Kars4Kids says it donates most of its profits from used car donations to Oorah, an Orthodox Jewish nonprofit based in New Jersey that provides opportunities such as summer camps, adult matchmaking services and trips to Israel.

Kars4Kids clearly makes the connection to its “nonprofit sister” on its website, but not in its famous jingle: “1-877-Kars4Kids / KARS Kars for Kids / 1-877-Kars4Kids / Donate your car today.” »

This omission prompted California resident Bruce Puterbaugh to sue Oorah in 2021.

According to the judge’s order, Puterbaugh said he donated a 2001 Volvo station wagon after hearing the Kars4Kids commercial “over and over again,” thinking the money would benefit California children in need. Puterbaugh, a septuagenarian who describes himself as “not a computer guy,” said he never visited the association’s website and only learned the truth during a casual conversation with his Lake County neighbor after the car was recovered.

“He testified that he felt ‘exploited’ upon discovering – only after the donation – that the funds did not stay in California but supported a specific religious mission in the Northeast,” Apkarian wrote.

The neighbor, Neal Roberts, is an attorney who later represented him in the case. Roberts told NPR that the ad — which has run on radio since the turn of the millennium and on television since 2014 — has been ubiquitous in California. But he said Apkarian, the judge in the case, was not watching television and did not hear the jingle until it was broadcast during the four-day trial in November.

“She heard it the first time, then a second time, and then the rule in court was, ‘Don’t play that jingle again,'” he said with a laugh. “So I thought that gave us an idea that we might have a chance.”

According to the judge’s order, Esti Landau, Kars4Kids’ director of operations, confirmed at trial that the association’s primary function is not to help economically disadvantaged children but “Jewish children and families throughout their lives.” She said the charity had “no functioning programs in California beyond a ‘backpack giveaway’ characterized as a branding exercise,” the judge wrote.

Landau confirmed on the stand that in 2022 – among other expenses – Oorah transferred $16,500,000 to North Africa and the Middle East and spent $16.5 million to purchase a building in Israel. She testified that although the Kars4Kids ad features children ages 8 to 10, Oorah-funded programs “often target young adults (17-18) and dating as well as Jewish families.” And she admitted that a donor “would have to go to the website” to get that information.

Neither Kars4Kids nor Oorah responded to NPR’s requests for comment. But in a lengthy statement posted on its website, Kars4Kids said the judge misinterpreted its work and trial testimony.

“Kars4Kids commercials have one goal: to remind listeners that Kars4Kids offers a quick and easy way to dispose of an unused vehicle,” he wrote. “The ads are aimed at vehicle owners, not specifically at people who are considering donating to charity.”

The charity said that “helping children often means involving parents and families as well”, and stressed that its mission and religious affiliation are clearly stated on its website.

But the judge ultimately sided with Puterbaugh, writing that “a reasonable consumer is not required to be ‘computer savvy.’ She gave the charity 30 days to stop running the ad in California unless it was updated to include an “audible disclosure of its religious affiliation and the geographic location and age of its primary beneficiaries.”

The judge also ordered the charity to pay Puterbaugh $250, the value of the car he donated, while acknowledging that “money cannot ‘undo the donation’ of a car or restore the donor’s belief that he was helping a local child in need.”

Kars4Kids says on its website that it plans to appeal the decision, which it says is “deeply flawed, ignores and distorts the facts presented at trial, and misapplies the law.”

The charity also called the case a “lawyer-led attempt to siphon off charitable funds for his own benefit.” Roberts rejected that accusation, saying the only money his client could make was the $250 for the car and attorney’s fees. The biggest victory, he said, is informing Kar4Kids — and potentially other charities nationwide — of the consequences of false advertising.

“I think anyone who knows the facts would think we were throwing smoke and mirrors in people’s eyes,” Roberts said.

Where are they now?

JG Wentworth’s eye-catching “Viking Opera” advert, featuring structured, costumed, colony-winning opera singers in need of money, has been running on and off since 2008.

JG Wentworth/Screenshot by NPR

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JG Wentworth/Screenshot by NPR

This story sent us down a rabbit hole of mind-blowing nostalgic jingles, confirming that they never really leave the depths of your brain. And it turns out that some of them are – in a sense – new again.

You remember Zoo Pals, the first animal-shaped paper dipping plates (pig, bee, frog, duck) that, according to their peppy theme song, “make eating fun!” » ? Hefty ditched the birthday party staple in 2014, but brought the plates back in 2023 – and also introduced disposable cups and plastic bags in the years since. It is not yet known whether advertising could also make a comeback.

Folgers, the coffee brand, has had people humming “The best part of waking up / is Folgers in your cup” since the cozy jingle first aired in 1984. Its various iterations have managed to hold viewers’ attention in the years since (the 2009 sibling version inspired a slew of parodies and fan fiction). In 2021, public performance royalties for the song – which is actually titled “Real Snowy Morning” – were auctioned off online. The winning bidder, identified as “Josh C.”, paid $90,500.

And earlier this year, the brand released remixed versions of the ad, merging the original jingle with several popular wake-up songs spanning genres and generations (including the Everly Brothers’ “Wake Up Little Susie” and Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life”).

Just this week, comedian John Oliver parodied the jingle from JG Wentworth’s Viking opera (“877-cash-now”) for an episode examining the structured settlement factoring industry. Oliver’s version, warning people to be skeptical of such companies, features stars like singer Megan Hilty, actor Victor Garber and Larry David, in a nod to the original earworm’s prominent appearance in the final season of Limit your enthusiasm.

Sometimes a jingle outlives what it advertises. Consider: “I’m a Toys R Us Kid,” the toy store ditty sung enthusiastically by generations of tricycle-riding kids since the 1980s. The franchise closed due to bankruptcy in 2018, though it has since been partially revived through a partnership with Macy’s. The jingle lasted, much to the delight of prolific thriller writer James Patterson, who helped write the lyrics early in his advertising career.

“It’s a big moment in my life,” Patterson said when asked about it during a 2024 appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark. “It’s fun, and the kids obviously loved it. And we remember it, which is great.”