Does Chocolate Bash have an advertising council composed of franchisees?
Chocolate_Bash Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
Advertising council. We do not have an advertising council composed of franchisees. The franchise agreement does not give us the power to form an advertising council.
Local or Regional Advertising Cooperatives. We do not currently have any local or regional advertising cooperatives. We have the right to require you to participate in a local or regional advertising cooperative. We will define the area of the cooperative based on media markets, or other geographic criteria that we deem appropriate. Each franchisee in the area would have one vote per outlet (unless the franchisee is in default under its franchise agreement). The amount you must contribute to the cooperative will be determined by vote of the members, but not less than 1% of gross sales. If our own outlets are members of a cooperative, they must contribute to the cooperative on the same basis as franchisees, and they will vote on the same basis as other members. If our outlets have controlling voting power, there is no maximum on fees that could be imposed. We administer the cooperative, but we have the right to delegate responsibility for administration to an outside company such as an advertising agency or accounting firm, or to the franchisee members of the cooperative. We have the right to require the cooperative to operate from written bylaws or other governing documents that we determine. The documents are not
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND TRAINING (FDD pages 19–25)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to Chocolate Bash's 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, the company does not have an advertising council composed of franchisees. The franchise agreement also does not grant Chocolate Bash the power to form such a council.
However, Chocolate Bash has the right to require franchisees to participate in local or regional advertising cooperatives. The area of the cooperative will be defined based on media markets or other geographic criteria deemed appropriate by Chocolate Bash. Each franchisee in the area would have one vote per outlet, unless they are in default under their franchise agreement.
The amount a franchisee must contribute to the cooperative will be determined by a vote of the members, but it will not be less than 1% of gross sales. If Chocolate Bash's own outlets are members of a cooperative, they must contribute on the same basis as franchisees and will vote on the same basis as other members. If Chocolate Bash's outlets have controlling voting power, there is no maximum on fees that could be imposed. Chocolate Bash will administer the cooperative but has the right to delegate responsibility for administration to an outside company or to the franchisee members of the cooperative. Chocolate Bash also has the right to require the cooperative to operate from written bylaws or other governing documents that they determine.