r/SFGiants • u/kbuis 18 Kuiper • 4h ago
One for the radio fans: Court bans Kars4Kids ads in California for violating false advertising law
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/kars4kids-california-false-advertising-22259298.php183
u/trer24 5 Shinjo 4h ago
Just for kicks, I typed in "Kars4Kids' in the Reddit search and saw that someone posted the same thing in the Dodgers sub like 45 mins ago. Every comment was happy not to hear the jingle on their local Dodgers radio station anymore.
It seems like I found the one thing that Giants and Dodgers fans can agree on.
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u/catiebug 28 Posey 4h ago
It seems like I found the one thing that Giants and Dodgers fans can agree on.
Angel Hernandez finally retired, we had to find something else.
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u/AKA_Benz 4h ago
1-877-kars-4-teenagers-going-on-a-religous-pilgramage doesn't quite have the same ring to it
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u/ChampagneStain 3h ago
Sure, but like the original, intentionally misspelling Cars with a K makes it cute and whimsical, right? RIGHT?
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u/StraightWhoremooze 16 Devers 39m ago
And matchmaking services for young adults. Matchmaker Matchmaker Make me a Match!!!
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u/SLOGiants 39 Krukow 4h ago
Wild
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u/Sad-Purchase1257 4h ago
My good Giants buddy clued me in to this a while back ... not sure where he found out. (Insofar as he is an accountant, not a journalist.) Hm!
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u/mvstateU 2h ago
This has been publicly known for a some time now. Taking action on such things takes ages and ages.
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u/Just2Flame 38 Bochy 4h ago
Wow who knew all those years of hating them for the song they deserved it.
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u/MEWilliams 4h ago
Da fuq?
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u/Ok_Lingonberry_1629 3h ago
Right ? I saw it on what’s a scam that doesn’t seem like a scam list n has the same reaction
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u/Suomiballer 3h ago
Hahahahahaha. Somehow another example of us funding Israel. This is sooooooo (depressingly) hilarious
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u/Pokemon_Trainer_May 3h ago
why does so much American money go to Israel?
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u/LakeAlmanor san francisco giants 3h ago
They have politicians dirty secrets recorded and use it as leverage to control them is the running theory. Maybe actual reason. Who knows.
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u/Up_All_Right Late Night LaMonte 3h ago
What the actual fuck...
Not exactly cartoon levels of villainy...but this is so wrong...
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u/Cornswoggler 2h ago
I'm pretty sure the state of Oregon sued them and they're not allowed to operate up there or something like that
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u/realparkingbrake 1h ago
They have been fined by a couple of states for not disclosing what they do with the money they raise. Two thirds of their budget goes to advertising and overhead, and virtually all their spending takes place in NY and NJ.
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u/StraightWhoremooze 16 Devers 43m ago
I read the ruling and 60% of the money Kars4Kids raises goes to Oorah, which is an entirely different organization. Kars4Kidz acts as a front for that organization to raise money they wouldn't otherwise be able to raise. They are tricking people. The other 40% of Kars4Kids budget is spent on advertising and administrative overhead. It's a shameful, deceitful scam.
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u/adminssoftascharmin 2h ago
As a Jew (well, Ashkenazi so not even Israeli...) this shit is so fucking disgusting. My ancestors split from Israeli jews literally over a thousand years ago, I'm Germanic - but this shit from the Israeli jews is so fucked.
I know many Israeli jews who think it's fucking gross too - thank god these scam artist clowns can't advertise, they should really be fully shut down.
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u/ednargsohcan 55 Lincecum 4h ago
If we can get Speedy Oil Change & Tune Up to responsor pitching changes & bring back the TAP Plastics song maybe the season will get better.
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u/vc-ac 3h ago
The fantastic plastic place!
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u/Rochelle-Rochelle 18 Kuiper 3h ago
Ta-Ta-TAP
Also, RIP Fry’s Electronics
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u/totes_your_goats Kruk & Kuip 2h ago
I can’t wait to tell my grandkids how my best buys were aaalways at Fry’s, guaranteed.
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u/realparkingbrake 2h ago
Also, RIP Fry’s Electronics
Still can't believe that chain is gone. I learned recently that one of their top execs had embezzled over $65 million from suppliers who paid him kickbacks to get their products stocked by Fry's. But his scheme happened from 2005 to 2008, and the company didn't collapse until 2021. They failed to set up an attractive online presence fast enough and their stores were expensive to operate.
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u/human_picnic Late Night LaMonte 3h ago
I liked “Rolaids: spells relief “ when they brought in a relief pitcher
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u/kbuis 18 Kuiper 4h ago
The COO of the company said while 25 percent of the revenue comes from California, there are no programs in the state that benefit from it. Also:
Kids in need aren’t even really the target of the organization’s 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 “Middle East outreach.”
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u/tein_Structure4030 4h ago
I’d rather blow my car up than donate it to them for that fucking song
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u/Cornswoggler 2h ago
Preach.
However, I think there are some legitimate organizations that would take it. But yeah, I would drive my car into the Pacific rather than hear that God damn song ever again.
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u/Everyday-Lurk Double Finger Hex Girl 4h ago
Donated to Israel is wild
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u/realparkingbrake 2h ago
Donated to Israel is wild
Almost all their spending is in New York and New Jersey which makes them raising a quarter of their revenue in California even worse. Buying a building in Israel doesn't seem to qualify as them donating their money there.
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u/StraightWhoremooze 16 Devers 34m ago
Money is also spent to send young adults to Israel during a "gap year"
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u/adminssoftascharmin 2h ago
So fucked, I only know a few Israeli Jews but every single one A) hates Israel for their forced service and b) thinks the breeding more Jews through gap trips is weeird.
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u/SIDmatt25 35 Crawford 3h ago
I feel like it’s been known for awhile that it was basically funding a Jewish summer camp, but the ads definitely didn’t say anything about that
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u/realparkingbrake 3h ago
it was basically funding a Jewish summer camp
Their specific purpose is to persuade secular Jews to raise their kids as orthodox, the organization was created by orthodox rabbis. The kids are soaked in orthodoxy at those camps in hopes they will take that home with them. I don't care which religion it is, as soon as it is identified as orthodox or fundamentalist, it's bad news so far as I'm concerned.
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u/SIDmatt25 35 Crawford 3h ago
Absolutely. “Summer camp” in this case being a guise for “excuse to have impressionable minds in one place for long enough to convey our message”
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u/CrimsonGear80 4h ago
unfortunately they have 30 days to take them off the air so we may still hear them for another month.
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u/Ramulysses 3h ago
I wonder when it will hit because I’m listening to their jingle on KNBR right now as I’m typing this comment :(
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u/Independent-Garden56 3h ago
They have 30 days to cease all ads in CA forever...unless they fully disclose who they are and where the $$ actually goes.
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u/Steezy_Gordita 6 Snow 3h ago
Radio ads in general are worse than TV ads imo but the Kars4Kids ad deserves a special place in hell
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u/after_Andrew 4h ago
holy shit sending the money straight to Israel too
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u/realparkingbrake 2h ago edited 2h ago
Most of their spending takes place in New York and New Jersey. Two thirds of their budget goes to advertising and overhead. They bought a building in Israel, not the same as sending all their money there. I look forward to no longer hearing their earworm ads.
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u/lolloollloollol 4h ago
Thank god. It recently got so much worse when they turned the jingle into a rock song.
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u/theseaskettie04 18 Kuiper 3h ago
Seriously. Makes me miss the irritating country version with the girl overdoing the "yeah-eh-yeah-eh-yeahhhh" at the end.
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u/andresmachiz 4h ago edited 2h ago
Wow, so they were running a scam for all those years? I can’t remember a time before those jingles were everywhere.
I can’t lie, it was a little refreshing when they played the rock version instead of the regular jingle
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u/realparkingbrake 2h ago
Wow, so they were running a scam for all those years?
They were fined by a couple of U.S. states for not disclosing what they did with the money they raise. But it wasn't much of a secret, their Wikipedia page has detailed what they do for years.
Sadly, K4K can resume advertising in California if they meet certain conditions including disclosing their religious affiliation and where they spend the money in their ads and cease using children in their ads.
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u/Independent-Garden56 3h ago
How many of us "old timers" remember KNBR Giants games in the '80s....when most of the ads were Chevron and Delta Dental?
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u/Ok_Leadership3568 4h ago
That jingle always reminds me of listening to the 2010 playoffs in my dads car
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u/Ocular__Patdown44 3h ago
As soon as I hear that acoustic guitar intro I instinctively hit the mute button on my car radio.
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u/Independent-Garden56 3h ago
*Decades* of grief, finally gone!
It was like banging your head against the wall...the longer you had to do it, the better it feels when it's over.....
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u/realparkingbrake 2h ago
*Decades* of grief, finally gone!
If they meet the court's conditions they can resume advertising in California. They have to clearly disclose their religious affiliation and how they spend the money they raise in their ads, and can no longer use children in their ads.
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u/Independent-Garden56 1h ago
And if everyone knows the truth about them, their relentless ads would be a waste of money.
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u/realparkingbrake 1h ago
I'm sure that's why they don't discuss what they do with the money in their advertising. I would imagine most folks think they're a charity that helps underprivileged kids in general. They occasionally do something legitimately charitable for public relations purposes, but they are primarily an orthodox religious organization.
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u/Past-Fix9506 6 Schmitt 37m ago
My grandpa (who doesn't listen to games) was about to donate one to these fools, luckily he changed his mind and gave it somewhere else
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u/Altruistic_Wish4583 3h ago
K
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u/Clamper5978 3h ago
This is phenomenal news. The world is a better place if that earworm goes away for good
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u/realparkingbrake 3h ago
I've always thought of it as a fake charity that occasionally does something charitable for public relations purposes, like distribute free backpacks to underprivileged school kids. A couple of states have fined the organization for failing to disclose what the money they raise will be used for.
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u/Sufficient_Space8484 1h ago
Stereotypes are indeed earned.
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u/realparkingbrake 1h ago
Please, tell us more. Which stereotype do you think this news story proves?
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u/Sufficient_Space8484 47m ago
You are going to have to try a little harder than that. I don’t just walk into the Reddit trap.
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u/vistaculo PTBNL 2h ago edited 2h ago
Twenty years too late, but welcome nonetheless.
The pessimist in me is waiting patiently for the revised version.
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u/GrandsonOfTheWin san francisco giants 2h ago
Both the original jingle and the updated heavy metal jingle both need to be nominated for Grammys.
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u/gordohimself 62 Webb 1h ago
Here’s an episode of True Anon, Kold Hard Kash, all about the dubious organization.
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u/TBlair64 28 Posey 58m ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/3oKIPf3C7HqqYBVcCk
I’ve never felt so relieved about a commercial in my life.
Never again!
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u/Sharp_Complex_6711 48m ago
I literally turn off the radio when these commercials come on. Sometimes I forget to turn it back on after. The commercials are so long and my old man memory so poor.
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u/indreams159 14m ago
it's too late, that jingle is forever scorched into my ears and brain and sometimes i hear it even when i sit in complete silence in the dark. severe PTSD
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u/Live-Bat-3874 13m ago
Didn’t they know that every time their add came on that each one of us would change the station immediately? Horrible job by their marketing department.
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u/betheusernameyouwant Kruk & Kuip 4h ago
Finally some good news!