{"id":174,"date":"2026-05-15T20:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T20:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=174"},"modified":"2026-05-15T20:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T20:03:09","slug":"court-bans-kars4kids-ads-in-california-for-violating-false-advertising-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=174","title":{"rendered":"Court bans Kars4Kids ads in California for violating false advertising law"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>An Orange County judge has banned all Kars4Kids ads, including the earworm of a jingle, from broadcasting in the state of California after finding that the charity violated false advertising and unfair competition state laws.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=172\">Will Smith hits 1st leadoff HR as Dodgers beat Giants 5-2, regain sole NL West lead<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"x1px y1px vh abs\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-channels-pixel.ex.co\/events\/0012000001fxZm9AAE?integrationType=DEFAULT&amp;template=design%2Farticle%2Fplatypus_two_column.tpl\" width=\"1\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The famous, or infamous, ad \u2014 best known locally for frequently playing throughout the day during KNBR commercial breaks \u2014 has been the subject of much scrutiny due to the lack of transparency regarding the organization\u2019s religious affiliation and the fact that the money does not really go to \u201ckids.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In a case that dates back to 2021, Bruce Puterbaugh originally sued the charity\u2019s affiliated organization, Oorah Inc., when he discovered that the money from the car he donated ($250) was not going to underprivileged kids in California but rather to an Orthodox Jewish program in New York and New Jersey.\u00a0Puterbaugh told the court that he donated the car because he had heard the famous Kars4Kids jingle \u201cover and over,\u201d according to the certified court order published May 8. The TV ad in particular, featuring a multiracial group of kids playing instruments along to the tune, is what made Puterbaugh think the money would go to underprivileged kids, and the fact that he donated the car in California is what led him to believe the money would stay in-state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Kars4Kids Chief Operating Officer Esti Landau testified that the charity\u2019s \u201cprimary function\u201d was to fund Oorah, which is dedicated to Jewish heritage summer camps in New York and New Jersey, per the court order. She also said that while 25% of the charity\u2019s revenue comes from California, there are no programs in\u00a0the state that benefit from Kars4Kids beyond a backpack drive \u201ccharacterized as a branding exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Kids in need aren\u2019t even really the target of the organization\u2019s financial efforts. Instead, those go to 17- and 18-year-olds seeking gap-year trips to Israel and their families. Landau testified that $16.5 million even went to purchasing a building in Israel in 2022, and $437,000 was spent on \u201cMiddle East outreach.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Orange County Superior Court Judge Gassia Apkarian found that the ads constituted false advertising because the commercials were \u201cmisleading by omission\u201d since none of the information above was properly disclosed. While prospective donors could find this information online, the court order stated that the \u201cprimary call to action\u201d was the phone number in the jingle. The court ruled that unfair competition laws were violated because \u201cthe harm of soliciting donations through intentional omissions outweighs any purported utility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=170\">Don\u2019t let the New York Times fool you about GOP gerrymandering<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cThe public interest is served by transparency in the \u2018charity marketplace,\u2019\u201d the order reads. \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. An injunction ensures that competition for charitable dollars is based on truth, not catchy, content-free, deceptive songs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Kars4Kids ads are now banned in the state until there\u2019s \u201can express, audible disclosure\u201d of the charity\u2019s religious affiliation, the region of where the money goes and a more accurate age range of the recipients. The organization also can\u2019t use young kids in its ads anymore. (You may still hear the jingle for a few weeks, though, as the court gave Kars4Kids a 30-day window to get its\u00a0noncompliant advertisement off California airwaves.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>California is not the only state to have ruled about Kars4Kids. In 2009, Pennsylvania and Oregon fined the charity for \u201cmisleading solicitation practices,\u201d and an investigation by Minnesota\u2019s attorney general in 2017 found that less than 1% of the $3 million donated in state went to local children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>More News<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u2014\u00a0Bay Area dad facing 3 years in prison after prank gone wrong<br \/>\u2014 Coca-Cola to shut down California plant after 114 years<br \/>\u2014 Calif. man, 80, charged in killing of 2 criminal justice students<br \/>\u2014 &#8216;Very contagious&#8217; parvovirus found throughout Northern Calif.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=168\">California man, 80, charged in 1994 killing of 2 criminal justice students<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><em>Sign up for\u00a0daily SFGATE breaking news alerts here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Orange County Superior Court just banned the Kars4Kids ad from playing in California after finding that the company violated a false advertising law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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