One of the biggest switchovers in our culture in the 21st century has been how we handle the subject of transparency. As Tom Cruise’s lawyer character in A Few Good Men aptly put it, we want the truth, even if it’s a bit unsightly. To not reveal everything is considered a major issue for many people.
Earlier today, I found myself shocked by a social media post about a popular charity with a somewhat annoying jingle. If you have watched the commercials for Kars4Kids, you know what I’m talking about. The ad features some youngsters faking their way as a band with guitars and drums, as a lead singer urges viewers to contribute (link to video of ad with commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW0bgiYdH0U).
This ad airs nationwide, so unless a person takes the additional time to research further, one might be under the impression that donating your vehicle would provide funding to area children. That’s a fraction of the truth. The organization is part of a larger one known as Oorah, which is an Orthodox Jewish hub based in New Jersey to provide educational financial aid and youth programs, as well as faith-based activities such as sleepaway camps in the Catskills. They have sponsored coat and backpack drives as well. Its main focus expands to Israel and Canada as well as the US.
The estimates indicate that a majority of their money intake is applied to overhead and costs outside the actual distribution of charitable goods, and its reputation is questionable because of the commercial’s lack of revelatory verbiage. Nowhere in the TV or radio ads is it mentioned that Oorah is the benefitting organization, or even that it’s a Jewish charity (not that the latter truly should affect any donor except those with, shall we say, a negative view of some populations). The news was released to say that the (Orange County) California Superior Court Judge Gassia Apkarian ruled the ad can no longer appear on CA television unless alterations identified more about the actual charity. Apparently a donor found out after the fact that his car might not be turned into local cash (about a quarter of the funding is from the state).
Naturally the TV ad has been parodied and picked apart by a variety of shows and radio personalities (including Howard Stern) because of the jingle’s cringey ability to infiltrate the mind and cause distraction. Makes you feel sorry for the poor young actors, who probably got paid peanuts and can’t count on the proceeds becoming a sizeable college fund.
To end on a brighter note, I learned that some places do strictly adhere to truth in advertising. In pictures of packaged foods in Japan, the photo must match the product inside. This means that a candy is shown actual size and in the correct color, and placement of decorations like frosting and fillings must also be the same as pictured. For foods you must prepare, such as ramen, the finished recipe must look like the illustrative example on the package. There is actually an oversight organization for that.
The Frito-Lay company has been trying to move their packaging toward this goal by producing a line of snacks free of dyes, and calling attention to the natural beauty of their potato chips. Of course, potato slices in a vat won’t come out the exact same every time, but the new packaging sports a real potato on the front, along with other decorative shots of sliced spuds and crispy chips. It’s a step in the right direction.
Susan's Scribblings the Blog 