The "Kars4Kids" jingle — with its chipper melody and high-pitched, pre-tween singers — has been wedged firmly in many Americans' heads for two decades. But it may soon go off the air in California after a judge banned it for being "deceptive."
Judge Gassia Apkarian of the Orange County Superior Court ruled earlier this month that the ad violates California's laws against unfair competition and false advertising because it does not disclose Kars4Kids' religious affiliation.
The case has put the jingle — and the charity behind it — in the headlines. And it inspired us to check in on some other nostalgic favorites (more on that below).
The Kars4Kids case, explained
Kars4Kids says it gives most of its proceeds from used-car donations to Oorah, an Orthodox Jewish nonprofit based in New Jersey that provides opportunities like summer camps, adult matchmaking services and trips to Israel.
Kars4Kids makes the connection to its "sister nonprofit" clear on its website, though not in its infamous jingle: "1-877-Kars4Kids / K-A-R-S Kars for Kids / 1-877-Kars4Kids / Donate your car today."
That omission prompted California resident Bruce Puterbaugh to sue Oorah in 2021.
According to the judge's order, Puterbaugh testified that he donated a 2001 Volvo station wagon after hearing the Kars4Kids advertisement "over and over," believing the money would benefit California kids in need. Puterbaugh, a self-described "not a computer person" in his 70s, said he never visited the charity's website and only learned the truth from a casual conversation with his Lake County neighbor after the car was picked up.
"He testified that he felt 'taken advantage of' 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 a lawyer who went on to represent him in the case. Roberts told NPR that the ad — which has aired on the radio since the turn of the millennium and on TV since 2014 — is ubiquitous in California. But he said Apkarian, the judge in the case, doesn't watch TV and hadn't heard the jingle until it was played at the four-day trial in November.
"She heard it the first time, and then she heard it the second time, and then the rule in the court was, 'Do not play that jingle again,'" he said with a laugh. "So I thought that gave us some idea that we might have a chance."
According to the judge's order, Kars4Kids' Chief Operating Officer Esti Landau confirmed at trial that the charity's primary function is not helping economically disadvantaged children but "Jewish kids and families throughout their lives." She said the charity has "no functional 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 expenditures — 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 while the Kars4Kids ad features kids ages 8 to 10, the programs Oorah funds "often target young adults (17-18) and matchmaking as well as Jewish families." And she conceded that a donor would "have to go to the website" for that information.
Neither Kars4Kids nor Oorah responded to NPR's requests for comment. But in a lengthy statement on its website, Kars4Kids said the judge mischaracterized its work and its testimony at trial.
"Kars4Kids' ads have one purpose: to remind listeners that Kars4Kids offers a quick and easy way to dispose of an unused vehicle," it wrote. "The ads are targeted to vehicle owners, not specifically to people considering donating to charity."
The charity said "helping children often means engaging parents and families as well," and stressed that its mission and religious affiliation are prominently 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 airing the ad in California unless it is updated to include an "audible disclosure of its religious affiliation and the geographic location of its primary beneficiaries and the age of the beneficiaries."
The judge also ordered the charity to pay Puterbaugh $250, the value of the car he donated, though acknowledged that "money cannot 'un-donate' a car or restore the donor's belief that they were helping a local, needy child."
Kars4Kids says on its website that it plans to appeal the ruling, which it said is "deeply flawed, ignores and misrepresents the facts that were presented at trial, and misapplies the law."
The charity also called the case as "a lawyer-driven attempt to siphon off charitable funds for their own gain." Roberts dismissed that accusation, saying the only money his client stands to gain is the $250 for the car and lawyers' fees. The bigger win, he said, is putting Kar4Kids — and potentially other charities nationwide — on notice about the consequences of false advertising.
"I think anyone who knows the facts would think that there was wool being pulled over people's eyes," Roberts said.
Where are they now?
This story sent us down a head-bopping rabbit hole of nostalgic jingles, confirming they never truly leave the depths of your brain. And it turns out, some of them are — in a sense — new again.
Remember Zoo Pals, the early-aughts, dipping sauce-friendly paper plates shaped like animals (pig, bee, frog, duck) that, per their peppy theme song, "make eating fun!"? Hefty discontinued the onetime birthday-party staple in 2014, but brought the plates back in 2023 — and has also introduced disposable cups and plastic bags in the years since. No word yet on whether the commercial might make a comeback too.
Folgers, the coffee brand, has had people humming "The best part of wakin' 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, fusing the original jingle with several popular wake-up songs spanning genres and generations (including the Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie" and "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence).
Just this week, comedian John Oliver parodied JG Wentworth's Viking opera ("877-cash-now") jingle 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 cameo in the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Sometimes a jingle outlives the very thing it's advertising. Consider: "I'm a Toys R Us Kid," the toy store ditty belted enthusiastically by generations of trike-riding kiddos since the 1980s. The franchise shuttered due to bankruptcy in 2018, though it has since been partially revived through a partnership with Macy's. The jingle has staying power — much to the delight of prolific thriller author James Patterson, who helped write the lyrics in his early career in advertising.
"That's a big moment in my life," Patterson said when asked about it in a 2024 appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark. "That's a fun one, and kids obviously loved it. And we do remember it, which is great."
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