The unsolicited distribution of personalised copies of the booklet to schools and mayors' offices has caused controversy, and while it is promoted as secular in nature, critics have stated that it includes ideas that are specific to Scientology, and is used as a recruiting tool.

[3] Headquartered at 201 East Broadway, Glendale, California, the foundation coordinates the activities of the Way to Happiness international network, including continental and national offices, associates and local groups.

[12] Volunteer Ministers, a Scientology-affiliated organization which responds to disaster scenes, distributes The Way to Happiness pamphlets, and did so in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake,[13] and the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

[16] Scientologist Nancy Cartwright, the voice actor for Bart Simpson, mailed 1 million copies of The Way to Happiness booklet to residents of San Fernando Valley, California in December 2007.

[17] Tom Cruise has distributed The Way to Happiness pamphlets, and passed out brochures embossed with his name at the elementary school where the 2005 movie War of the Worlds was filmed.

[27] According to a report by the Associated Press, the city ordered the Scientology group to stop using an unauthorized picture of Mayor Gavin Newsom on its promotional pamphlets.

"[26] The city attorney for San Francisco wrote a letter to "The Way to Happiness Foundation", citing California state law, which prohibits deceptive and misleading advertising that could create an appearance that the pamphlets are from a government agency.

Caberta contended that "Scientology regularly used misleading methods to fool individuals into joining and said that such booklets had been distributed to other German cities.

[31] In March 2008, The Way to Happiness Foundation agreed to stop sending thousands of unsolicited, personalized copies of the booklet to elected officials in Florida after hundreds of them complained.

[33] In a speech given at a New Year's event in 2007, David Miscavige, the current leader of the Church of Scientology, claimed that the distribution of the booklet is aided by "corporate tie-ins", mentioning 7-Eleven in Taiwan, Coca-Cola Pakistan, Philips Electronics in Pakistan, and Dell in Africa as companies who supported the Foundation as part of their efforts to address their "third-world image problems".

[34] A spokesman for Dell told the Los Angeles Times that they had researched the matter with their colleagues in Africa and elsewhere and found "no evidence that this is accurate ... it's not our practice to disseminate religious materials of any kind.

[34][36] The Way to Happiness pamphlet caused controversy in Sderot, Israel in February 2008, when a group calling itself the "Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East" became active in the city.

[37] The non-profit group sent e-mails to social workers in Sderot, offering to help people cope with Kassam rocket attacks the city has been enduring.

[37] In an e-mail response to The Jerusalem Post, the Association for Prosperity stated: "We are unaware of any Scientology activity whatsoever being offered to Sderot residents.

[37] In Illinois in 2011, Rep. Dan Burke (D-Chicago) sponsored a resolution endorsing the "Good Choices" program, which is based on The Way to Happiness, as one of a number of suitable tools for teaching character, morals and values.

Actress Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson and a Scientologist, submitted testimony to a House education committee, stating the program had "nothing to do with religion."

Opponents voiced concerns about the program's links to the Scientology belief system, and said that promoting its use in schools would violate the principle of the separation of church and state.

[38] The reporter stated, "Not even the voice of Bart Simpson could convince Illinois lawmakers to approve a resolution aimed at teaching character in public schools because of its link to the Church of Scientology."

"[39] The text uses key words and concepts taken directly from Scientology beliefs – for example that "survival" is the fundamental point of life, that you can be truly happy if you become the "cause" of your own actions, and that the truth is "what is true for you.

"[1] A Brooklyn school principal who at first appreciated the booklet as "a values-oriented book about righteousness and peace" stopped using it after becoming aware that it contained "an undercurrent of a religious nature.