Who directs the advertising programs for Jersey Mikes?
Jersey_Mikes Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
te Advertising and Development Fund or the National Media Fund in its sole and absolute discretion.
The Cooperative Advertising Fund is currently inactive, but if Franchisor chooses to reactivate it in the future, it shall be maintained and administered by Franchisor or its designee, as follows:
- a. Franchisor shall designate Franchisee's Advertising Coverage Area on the Summary Pages. Franchisor shall establish all cooperative advertising programs which may include from one (1) franchisee in a particular Advertising Coverage Area to ten (10) or more franchisees. If franchisees assigned to a cooperative do not timely agree upon the required expenditures of a cooperative advertising and promotional program, Franchisor shall have the right to determine the form and amount of the expenditures to be made through such cooperative advertising and promotional program. Franchisor may charge a fee to the cooperative for the services which it provides.
- b. Although Franchisor intends the Cooperative Advertising Fund to be of perpetual duration, Franchisor maintains the right to terminate the Cooperative Advertising Fund at any time. The Cooperative Advertising Fund shall not be terminated, however, until all monies in the Cooperative Advertising Fund have been expended for advertising and promotional purposes.
- c. Franchisor shall cause each of its Affiliate-owned JERSEY MIKE'S Restaurants, including Restaurants owned or controlled by directors and officers of Franchisor, to make contributions to the Cooperative Advertising Fund in the Advertising Coverage Area which are equivalent to the contributions required of Franchised Restaurants based upon the date on which each Affiliate-owned Restaurant opened for business.
- d. Franchisor may, in the exercise of its sole discretion, waive payments to the Cooperative Advertising Fund, in whole or in p art, for locations with limited access Restaurants, including, but not limited to, r esorts, stadiums, hospitals, airports, casinos, college campuses and highway rest stops and waive their participation in such programs. Franchisor shall have the sole power to form, change, merge or dissolve the Advertising Coverage Area and cooperatives. At any time Franchisor may require that some or all of Franchisee's cooperative advertising payments be paid instead to the Corporate Advertising Fund.
- e. An accounting summary of the operations of the Cooperative Advertising Fund shall be prepared annually and shall be made available to Franchisee upon written request. Franchisor reserves the right, at its sole option, to have an audit of the operation of the Cooperative Advertising Fund prepared by an independent certified public accountant selected by Franchisor and prepared at the expense of the Cooperative Advertising Fund.
- 10.7 Franchisee shall maintain a business phone and advertise continuously as "Jersey Mike's Subs" in the free classified or Yellow Pages of the local telephone directory under the listing "Restaurants"
or such other listings as deemed appropriate by Franchisor using mats of the type and size approved in advance by Franchisor. When more than one (1) JERSEY MIKE'S Restaurant is located in an area served by the same commercial telephone directory, a single classified advertisements shall list all JERSEY MIKE'S Restaurants operating within the distribution area of such classified directories, and Franchisee shall pay its share of the cost of such advertisement based upon the number of Restaurants listed in the advertisement.
10.8 Franchisee must not establish or create any domain names, websites, email addresses, user names, profiles, screen names, social network accounts, other online presence or presence on any electronic medium of any kind ("Online Presence") unless previously approved by Franchisor in writing. At Franchisor's request, Franchisee agrees to grant Franchisor access to each such Online Presence and to take whatever action (including signing assignment or other documents) Franchisor requests to help Franchisor obtain exclusive administrative rights in such Online Presence. Franchisor also reserve the right to require Franchisee, at Franchisee's expense, to list and advertise the Franchised Restaurant with the online directories that Franchisor periodically prescribes (such as Yelp® and Google®) or establish any other Online Presence Franchisor requires, each in accordance with Franchisor's System Standards. If Franchisor approves, in writing, the use of any social networking websites (such as LinkedIn®, Twitter®, Facebook®, Instagram® or YouTube®) in the operation of the Franchised Restaurant, or the posting of messages relating to the Franchised Restaurant on other websites (such as Yelp®), Franchisee will do so only in accordance with Franchisor's guidelines set forth in the Manual or otherwise in writing. Franchisor reserve the right to require Franchisor's approval of any message Franchisee composes for a social networking website or commentary for any other website before Franchisee posts such message or commentary.
11.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 77)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Jersey Mike's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the franchisor has control over the advertising programs. Specifically, if a cooperative advertising program is established but franchisees cannot agree on expenditures, Jersey Mike's has the right to determine the form and amount of these expenditures. Jersey Mike's may also charge a fee for services provided to the cooperative.
Jersey Mike's also maintains the right to terminate the Cooperative Advertising Fund, provided that all monies are spent on advertising and promotional purposes. The franchisor ensures that its affiliate-owned restaurants contribute to the Cooperative Advertising Fund equivalent to the contributions required of franchised restaurants. Additionally, Jersey Mike's has the power to form, change, merge, or dissolve Advertising Coverage Areas and cooperatives, and may require that cooperative advertising payments be directed to the Corporate Advertising Fund instead.
Jersey Mike's also administers the Corporate Advertising and Development Fund. The funds may be used for administrative costs related to advertising programs, such as marketing research and preparing materials. These funds can also be used to purchase products or services from Jersey Mike's or its affiliates, even if they profit from the transactions, and to cover the costs of protecting the brand's trademarks. The franchisor also has the right to terminate the Corporate Advertising and Development Fund, provided that all monies are spent for advertising and promotional purposes. Affiliate-owned Jersey Mike's restaurants are required to contribute to this fund at the same rate as franchised restaurants. Jersey Mike's may also waive payments for locations with limited access, such as those in resorts or hospitals, and may reduce or forgive amounts owed by franchisees to the fund.