Can Bambu use outside advertising agencies for the Marketing and Technology Fund?

According to Bambu's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Bambu retains the right to utilize external advertising agencies, including those with their own personnel or affiliates, to deliver advertising services for the Marketing and Technology Fund. This fund is maintained by Bambu and is used for marketing and technology-related expenses. Bambu has sole discretion over the advertising and marketing programs financed by the fund, including creative concepts, materials, media placement, and overall administration.

This means that as a franchisee, you may not have direct control over which advertising agencies are used or the specific advertising strategies employed. However, Bambu is obligated to provide an annual unaudited financial statement detailing how the Marketing and Technology Fund was spent in the prior year, upon a franchisee's written request. This provides some transparency into the fund's usage.

It's important to note that the Marketing and Technology Fund is not a trust fund, and Bambu does not owe franchisees a fiduciary duty regarding its maintenance, direction, or administration. While Bambu aims to maximize recognition of the brand and patronage of all Bambu shops, there's no guarantee that expenditures will be proportionate to contributions from shops in any specific geographic area, or that any shop will directly benefit in proportion to its contribution. This is a fairly standard practice in franchising, where marketing funds are often used to benefit the system as a whole, rather than individual locations.