A judged ruled that Kars4Kids ads are banned in California, believing that the charity violated false advertising and unfair competition laws by using donations to pay for teenagers’ trips to Israel and a $16.5 million building in the country.
In 2021, Bruce Puterbaugh sued Kars4Kids, saying he “felt taken advantage of” after he discovered that his donation would not to go “underprivileged kids from all over the U.S.” Puterbaugh said he donated a broken-down car after hearing the ads “over and over” again on the radio. Puterbaugh believed he was a “charitable person” and said he donated the car with the belief that the proceeds would go to children in need, particularly in the Golden State.
He learned after his donation that the funds instead went to Oorah, a company meant to further Jewish heritage and summer camps in New York and New Jersey.
Esti Landau, the company’s chief operating officer (COO), in testimony that the judge described as “shockingly candid,” said her organization does not focus on helping the country’s most needy kids.
CBS News explained:
She testified that Kars4Kids is the primary funding source for Oorah. She admitted that the donations funded “matchmaking programs” for young adults and trips to Israel for 17 and 18-year-olds, according to court documents. In her testimony, she added that the company spent $437,000 on Middle East outreach and used the funds to purchase a $16.5 million building in Israel.
In its reasoning for the ruling, the court stated that the advertisements were misleading by omission and stated that the Kars4Kids name, paired with the advertisements were “likely to deceive the public.”
Kars4Kids decried the ruling, saying that they expect to win on appeal and described the lawsuit as a “lawyer-drive attempt to siphon off charitable funds for their own gains.”
“We believe this decision is deeply flawed, ignores the facts, and misapplies the law. It’s well known that we are a Jewish organization and our website makes it abundantly clear. Take a look and judge for yourself: www.kars4kids.org,” a spokesperson said.
Puterbaugh said he was not computer savvy and said instead he followed the ad’s directive to call the charity’s phone number. The judge sided with his argument, saying that “consumers act reasonably by calling that number rather than cross-referencing a website.”
In the judge’s ruling, Kars4Kids must pay Puterbaugh and the charity has 30 days to pull the ads from the state.
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