That Kars4Kids Charity With the Bad Jingle Is Fighting a $10M Legal Battle Over Its Name

There's a chance none of us ever have to hear the Kars4Kids jingle ever again. If you know it, you know how awful of an earworm it is. Every time I'd see the commercial on ESPN, I'd feel like I was in Edgar Allen Poe's Tell-Tale Heart for the rest of the day, walking around my house loudly asking if my family members could also hear the infernal racket. However, blissful relief just might be on the horizon, as Kars4Kids has been in a trademark infringement battle with the similarly named Cars for Kids charity for years.

In 2019, the District Court of New Jersey settled a trademark infringement dispute between the Garden State-based Kars4Kids charity and the Texas-based America Can! Cars for Kids charity. Both sell donated cars and use the money to help kids in need. During the dispute, the courts ultimately determined that Kars4Kids willfully infringed on Cars for Kids' trademark in Texas, and the former (that's "Kars" with a "K!") was forced to pay the latter $10.6 million in damages. That penalty was later reduced to $7.8 million this past January. The court also deemed at the time that Cars for Kids had the rights to use "Cars for Kids" in its marketing. Now, though, Kars4Kids is filing an appeal to the 2019 court decision.