Kars4Kids Commercial Ordered Off the Air by California Judge

“1 877 Kars 4 Kids / K-A-R-S Kars for Kids” will no longer be stuck in the heads of every Californian. 

After more than 30 years, a California judge has ordered the grating commercial off the air due to false advertising.

Judge Gassia Apkarian of the Orange County Superior Court of California ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Bruce Puterbaugh, who claimed “he was subjected to the Kars4Kids radio ‘jingle’ repeatedly (‘over and over’).”

After donating his 2001 Volvo, believing that doing so would benefit “underprivileged kids from all over the U.S,” Puterbaugh felt “taken advantage of” after learning where the money actually goes.

According to the judge, Kars4Kids’ COO Esti Landau “admitted that the 30-second advertisement, which has been running for two decades, ‘does not say anything’ about the charity’s specific nature.”

Kars4Kids is a Jewish Organization, “yet the word ‘Jewish’ is absent from the ad.”

A quarter of the organization’s funding comes from California, despite the company having “no functional programs” in the state.

“Ms. Landau explicitly testified that the organization’s primary purpose is not to help economically disadvantaged children. She testified that Oorah’s programs include “matchmaking” for young adults and ‘gap year’ trips to Israel for 17- and 18-year-olds (averaging 250 participants per year),” the judge’s order states.

The company was ordered to reimburse Puterbaugh the value of his donated car and legal fees, and is “permanently enjoined from broadcasting the ‘Kars4Kids’ jingle or any variation thereof in the State of California” without explicitly disclosing the religious affiliation.