Kars4Kids: Commercial updated with new kids and song
Entertainment

Kars4Kids ad gets new kids, but song remains as annoying as ever

It’s the jingle that’s been stuck in our collective conscience for two decades — and now, TV viewers are feeling fresh torture over the Kars4Kids commercial.

Over the past few weeks, some noticed the ad looked a little different: same black and pink wardrobe palette; same blindingly white set with a hot pink violin and drum kit; same kids singing the same song — but wait. Those aren’t the same kids.

“They changed the Kars4kids kids and I do not like it!” ranted @siddthewizkidd on Twitter.

“How the hell did they manage to make the Kars4Kids commercial even worse? Good lord,” griped @TheGiftOfMayhem.

Turns out, executives at the national nonprofit — which works with the charity Oorah to collect donated cars to raise money for the education and development of Jewish children — decided the old spot was looking outdated and to freshen things up with higher-quality video technology.

But, said producer Yocheved Zel­ishovsky: “We weren’t trying to create something new — we were trying to preserve the original.”

But while someone like Flo the Progressive lady can play the same part for years, the original Kars4Kids cast had long outgrown their poodle skirts.

“We were stuck because there’s no way we can use the same kids seven years later,” said Zelishovsky. “They’re adults themselves.”

Last April, an open casting call went out for a “timeless commercial re-shoot” soliciting kids ages 9 through 13 to be paid $75 for rehearsal and $150 for the shoot.

“Growing up, I always heard the Kars4Kids jingle on the radio and I saw the commercial several times,” said Madelyn Paterna, 11, who plays violin in the new ad. “I go on a lot of auditions, but when my mom said that I was going to audition for Kars4Kids I was so nervous.”

When the Milford, Conn., tween learned she got the part, “I almost fainted. I was going to be one of Kars4Kids kids!”

Kars 4 Kids

The commercial and its maddeningly catchy jingle have been lampooned everywhere from “Family Guy” to “Saturday Night Live.” Comedian John Oliver joked that Kars4Kids was the only charity that “inspires more visceral anger” than the Clinton Foundation.

(The charity reported a net revenue of $65 million for 2018, after taking in 143,062 vehicles, 2,005 boats and planes, plus some land.)

In 2017, two of the child actors, singer Colin Crest and drummer Chloe Fatuova, who appeared in the original TV ad, told The Post it led to them being bullied by classmates and online trolls.

Kars4Kids representative Wendy Kirwan takes the hate in stride.

“It’s cool to see it take on a life of its own. It’s kind of wild to think that we’re a charity organization — we’re not slick ad execs.”

In fact, it took just four people to produce the new spot using the original set at Butter Tree Studios in East Hanover, NJ.

There’s also an updated version of the earworm song, lip-synched by the kiddie actors.

Chase Bolnick, 17, who played keyboards in the first ad, doesn’t mind being replaced by a painfully cute new bunch of whippersnappers.

“I’m a lot older now, so I’m perfectly fine with younger kids taking the torch,” he told The Post.

And 8-year-old Jasper, who is the lead singer and guitar player in the new commercial, is ready for his turn in the spotlight.

“The old Kars4Kids commercial was annoying,” said the Upper East Side second-grader. “But I like doing annoying stuff.”

Where are they now? NY Post talks to the original Kars 4 Kids cast: