Does Buona require franchisees to participate in cooperative advertising, and where can I find more information about this?
Buona Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
11.4 Co-operative Advertising. Franchisee shall join and participate in any local advertising cooperative which has been or may be formed consisting of franchisees and/or Franchisor-owned or Affiliateowned Franchised Businesses in Franchisee's area or region. Franchisee agrees to contribute to the cooperative in the amount and manner agreed upon by a majority of the members of the cooperative. Contributions made by you to the cooperative will be credited to your local advertising expenditure requirements in Section 11.2 above. Each Franchised Business in the cooperative, whether franchised or company-owned or affiliate-owned, shall have one vote in the cooperative. Franchisor assumes no direct or indirect liability or obligation to Franchisee or to any local co-operative with respect to the maintenance, direction, or administration of the co-operative, including without limitation, any failure by any franchisees to make any contributions to the co-operative.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 78)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Buona's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are required to join and participate in any local advertising cooperative that has been or may be formed in their area or region, consisting of both franchisees and company-owned or affiliate-owned franchised businesses. The specific details regarding cooperative advertising can be found in Section 11.4. Franchisees must contribute to the cooperative in an amount and manner agreed upon by a majority of the members.
The contributions made by the franchisee to the cooperative will be credited toward their local advertising expenditure requirements, as detailed in Section 11.2. Each franchised business within the cooperative, whether it is franchised, company-owned, or affiliate-owned, has one vote in the cooperative.
Buona assumes no direct or indirect liability or obligation to the franchisee or any local cooperative regarding the maintenance, direction, or administration of the cooperative. This includes any failure by franchisees to make contributions to the cooperative. This means that while participation is mandatory if a co-op exists, Buona does not oversee the co-op's operations or finances, and franchisees bear the risk of mismanagement or non-payment by other members.