Kars4Kids Jingle Can Remain on Airwaves in California After Appeals Court Ruling
The long-running Kars4Kids’ advertising jingle can stay on California airwaves, for now, after the latest court ruling Thursday.
A California appeals court has temporarily blocked a lower-court order that would have forced the charity to pull or overhaul its ads, allowing the commercials to keep airing while the legal fight continues.
In a June 4 order, the Fourth Appellate District granted Kars4Kids’ petition for a writ of supersedeas and stayed an injunction issued by an Orange County judge. The court ruled that the injunction and all other proceedings will remain on hold pending resolution of the appeal or further order of the court.
The decision is a major win for Kars4Kids, whose ads were on the verge of disappearing from California airwaves after a judge found the organization misled donors about where their money was going.
“Kars4Kids applauds today’s court ruling allowing its ads to continue airing in California while the appeals process continues,” spokesperson Wendy Kirwan said. She said uninterrupted advertising will allow the charity to continue funding programs that benefit children and families in California and beyond.
The appeal stems from a May 8 ruling by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gassia Apkarian, who found Kars4Kids violated California false advertising and unfair competition laws by failing to disclose that donations primarily fund frum programs affiliated with Oorah Inc.
The lawsuit was filed by California resident Bruce Puterbaugh, who said he donated a vehicle after hearing the charity’s ads and believed the proceeds would benefit underprivileged California children. According to the ruling, the $250 generated instead went to Oorah-connected programs.
During trial, Kars4Kids COO Esti Landau testified the organization’s “primary function” is funding Oorah’s programs. The court found that while about 25% of Kars4Kids revenue comes from California, it has little meaningful programming there beyond a backpack giveaway that Judge Apkarian called a “branding exercise.”
The ruling also found that donations were not primarily directed toward young children in need. Instead, they supported older teens, including 17- and 18-year-olds on Israel gap-year trips and related family programming. Testimony showed $16.5 million was spent in 2022 on a building in Israel and another $437,000 on “Middle East outreach.”
Judge Apkarian concluded that the ads were “misleading by omission” because they did not disclose the charity’s religious affiliation, where donations were spent, or the ages of beneficiaries. Under the ruling, Kars4Kids would have been barred from airing commercials in California unless they included audible disclosures explaining those facts and could no longer use young children in the ads. Those restrictions are now on hold.
“We believe the lower court’s findings on the facts and the law were deeply flawed, and we look forward to pursuing a broad appeal,” Kirwan said.
Kars4Kids, a Lakewood, New Jersey-based 501(c)(3), operates a vehicle donation program that funds educational and recreational programs for Jewish children and families, primarily through Oorah.
The charity has faced scrutiny before. Pennsylvania and Oregon fined Kars4Kids in 2009 for misleading solicitation practices, and a 2017 Minnesota attorney general investigation found that less than 1% of the $3 million donated in the state benefited local children.
