What business or advertising practices are Buff City Soap franchisees prohibited from engaging in?
Buff_City_Soap Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Franchisee is prohibited from soliciting and marketing by any means (i.e. promotional materials, advertisements, Internet, social media, mobile applications, SMS texting, telephone, or any other means, electronic or otherwise) outside of its Protected Area and must not specifically engage in target marketing (defined below) within the Protected Area of another Buff City Soap® Makery (franchise and/or a company/affiliate owned business).
Target Marketing means a concerted effort by a franchisee to solicit and obtain customers through any type of advertisement or marketing, directed at all or a portion of another franchisee's Protected Area.
Franchisee may sell and ship products to people located outside of its Protected Area so long as its sales are not the result of solicitations outside its Protected Area or the result of Target Marketing activities by Franchisee.
- (3) Franchisee does not have the right to establish any additional or alternative channels of distribution (i.e. the Internet, Social Media or any other electronic means, including the telephone and SMS texting) without the express written permission of Franchisor, which may be withheld in our sole discretion.
Source: Item 23 — Receipts (FDD pages 69–186)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Buff City Soap FDD, a franchisee's ability to solicit business and sell products is restricted by their Protected Area. Franchisees are prohibited from soliciting and marketing outside of their Protected Area through any means, including promotional materials, advertisements, the Internet, social media, mobile applications, SMS texting, or telephone. They also cannot engage in target marketing within another Buff City Soap location's Protected Area, whether that location is a franchise or a company-owned business. Target marketing is defined as a concerted effort to solicit customers through advertising directed at another franchisee's Protected Area.
While franchisees can sell and ship products outside their Protected Area, these sales cannot result from solicitations originating outside their area or from target marketing activities. Additionally, franchisees cannot establish any additional or alternative channels of distribution, such as through the Internet or social media, without the express written permission of Buff City Soap, which Buff City Soap can withhold at its discretion.
Buff City Soap retains all rights inside and outside the Protected Area that are not expressly granted to the franchisee in the agreement. This includes the right to advertise and promote the Buff City Soap system, operate Buff City Soap makeries, and license others to do so outside the Protected Area, even in locations adjacent to it. Buff City Soap also reserves the right to offer and sell products and services through any channel of distribution, including various retail locations, the Internet, and wholesale channels.