{"id":233317,"date":"2026-05-15T23:48:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/233317\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T23:48:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:48:33","slug":"annoying-kars4kids-jingle-permanently-banned-from-california-airwaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/233317\/","title":{"rendered":"Annoying Kars4Kids jingle permanently banned from California airwaves"},"content":{"rendered":"

California is pulling the plug on the wildly recognizable Kars4Kids jingle<\/a> after a judge ruled the charity\u2019s ads misled donors about who actually benefits from their money.<\/p>\n

Orange County Superior Court Judge Gassia Apkarian found that the organization violated California false advertising and unfair competition laws by failing to disclose that donations primarily fund Orthodox Jewish programs tied to Oorah Inc., a New York- and New Jersey-based outreach organization.<\/p>\n

The ruling was published May 8 and comes after California resident Bruce Puterbaugh sued the charity in 2021, claiming he donated his car after repeatedly hearing the famous ad and believed the proceeds would help underprivileged children<\/a> in California.<\/p>\n

Five children pretend to perform the Kars4Kids jingle in a video ad for the charity. Kars4Kids<\/p>\n

A California man sued, claiming the ads implied funds raised would help kids in the Golden State. Kars4Kids<\/p>\n

Instead, Puterbaugh learned the $250 generated from his donated vehicle went to programs connected to Oorah, which focuses on Jewish heritage camps and religious outreach.<\/p>\n

According to the ruling, Kars4Kids chief operating officer Esti Landau testified that the charity\u2019s \u201cprimary function\u201d is funding Oorah\u2019s programs.<\/p>\n

Landau also testified that although about 25% of Kars4Kids\u2019 revenue comes from California, the organization has virtually no meaningful programs benefiting children in the state beyond a backpack drive described in court as a \u201cbranding exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orange County Superior Court Judge Gassia Apkarian. CA Post<\/p>\n

Kars4Kids can no longer air its commercials in California unless the ads include \u201can express, audible disclosure.\u201d Kars4Kids<\/p>\n

The court further heard that Kars4Kids funding was not primarily directed toward young children in need.<\/p>\n

Instead, money supported older teens, including 17- and 18-year-olds participating in gap-year trips to Israel and related family programming.<\/p>\n

Testimony also revealed that $16.5 million was spent in 2022 on a building purchase in Israel, while another $437,000 went toward \u201cMiddle East outreach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apkarian ruled the commercials were \u201cmisleading by omission\u201d because they failed to disclose the organization\u2019s religious affiliation, where the money was spent, and the actual age range of beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public interest is served by transparency in the \u2018charity marketplace,\u2019\u201d the order states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a charity generates millions annually through a \u2018jingle\u2019 that conceals its primary religious and geographic focus, it creates an unfair playing field for local California charities that are honest about their missions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the ruling, Kars4Kids can no longer air its commercials in California unless the ads include \u201can express, audible disclosure\u201d explaining the charity\u2019s religious affiliation, where donations go and who benefits from the funds.<\/p>\n

The organization is also barred from using young children in its ads.<\/p>\n

The court gave Kars4Kids 30 days to remove noncompliant commercials from California airwaves, meaning the catchy tune may still linger briefly on radio and TV.<\/p>\n

The charity has faced scrutiny before. Kars4Kids<\/p>\n

Kars4Kids, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Lakewood, New Jersey, operates a car donation program that funds educational and recreational programs for Jewish children and families, primarily through Oorah.<\/p>\n

The charity has faced scrutiny before. Pennsylvania and Oregon fined Kars4Kids in 2009 for \u201cmisleading solicitation practices,\u201d and a 2017 Minnesota attorney general investigation found that less than 1% of the $3 million donated in the state benefited local children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California is pulling the plug on the wildly recognizable Kars4Kids jingle after a judge ruled the charity\u2019s ads…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2136,60,1016,57,9,11,10,8725,10693,58],"class_list":["post-233317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-california","tag-israel","tag-los-angeles","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-san-francisco","tag-scams","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}