Does City Wide review promotional and advertising materials that franchisees intend to use?
City_Wide Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
CITY WIDE provides pre-approved marketing collateral for your usage. If you chose to produce additional materials for your use, at your own cost, you must consult with CITY WIDE and CITY WIDE must approve the advertising or collateral materials in advance which includes obtaining approval from CITY WIDE to utilize the marks before you produce or distribute anything. CITY WIDE will review and approve or disapprove all promotional and advertising materials prior to franchisee's use and within three business days of CITY WIDE's receipt of such materials. If CITY WIDE does not respond to your request within that time, your proposed materials will be deemed disapproved. From time to time CITY WIDE will provide you with local marketing materials, including without limitation, merchandising materials, sales aids, special promotions, and similar marketing materials, at a price equal to their cost, including allocable overhead, to CITY WIDE plus 10%.
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND TRAINING (FDD pages 29–36)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to City Wide's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, City Wide does review and approve or disapprove all promotional and advertising materials before a franchisee uses them. City Wide commits to reviewing these materials within three business days of receipt. However, if City Wide fails to respond within this three-day period, the materials are considered disapproved.
This stipulation means that franchisees must plan ahead and submit any advertising or promotional materials well in advance of when they intend to use them. The three-day review period offers a relatively quick turnaround, but the automatic disapproval if no response is received puts the onus on the franchisee to ensure timely submission and follow-up. This policy ensures brand consistency and compliance with City Wide's standards, but franchisees need to be aware of the potential for delays if they don't manage the approval process effectively.
City Wide also provides pre-approved marketing collateral for franchisee use. If a franchisee chooses to produce additional materials at their own cost, they must consult with City Wide and obtain approval to use the company's marks before producing or distributing anything. City Wide may also provide local marketing materials at a cost equal to their cost plus 10%.