CBC pulls Kars4Kids ads after U.S. court bans 'deceptive' jingle

[Jotunn]

CBC pulls Kars4Kids ads after U.S. court bans 'deceptive' jingle

The CBC will no longer carry ads for Kars4Kids — the long-running charity campaign featuring a familiar jingle inviting audiences to "donate your car today."

The public broadcaster announced the move on Tuesday, days after a California court found the campaign amounted to a "strategy of deception."

"In light of the developments regarding this charity, CBC has decided to pull their ads," Chuck Thompson, a spokesperson for the Crown corporation, told CBC News in an email.

Earlier this month, Judge Gassia Apkarian of the Superior Court of California ruled the Kars4Kids ads — featuring children playing instruments and lip-syncing the earworm jingle — would be banned from being broadcast in the state until they contain "an express, audible disclosure" of the charity's affiliation, and where proceeds go.

The decision stemmed from a 2021 lawsuit brought by Bruce Puterbaugh, a California cabinetmaker who donated a 2001 Volvo XC to the charity. Court documents say Puterbaugh was under the impression the charity helped "underprivileged kids from all over the U.S."

It wasn't until later that he learned the main purpose of Kars4Kids is actually to fund a Jewish organization called Oorah, based in New Jersey.

In her decision, Judge Apkarian noted Oorah's programs include "matchmaking for young adults and gap year trips to Israel for 17 and 18-year-olds."

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