Is Mr. Sandless required to maintain a National Advertising Fund?
Mr_Sandless Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
must submit your grand opening advertising plan to us for our approval.
The Advertising Fund
We have established an advertising fund ("Advertising Fund") to promote the System, Mr. Sandless and the products and services offered by Mr. Sandless Businesses. You must contribute each month to the Advertising Fund an amount equal to 1% of your Gross Sales. Your contributions to the Advertising Fund are in addition to your local advertising requirement described above. The Advertising Fund will be used for national, regional and local advertising, publicity and promotion relating to our business. We will determine, in our fully unrestricted discretion, the manner in which the Advertising Fund will be spent. Some portion of the Advertising Fund may be used for creative concept production, seminars and training programs, market research, marketing surveys, services of advertising and/or public relations agencies, television, radio, magazine, social media, and newspaper and electronic advertising campaigns and related purposes, as well as for website development, enhancement and maintenance. We have the right to direct all advertising activities with sole discretion over creative concepts, materials and media used, as well as their placement and allocation.
We also have the right to determine, in our sole discretion, the composition of all geographic and market areas for the implementation of these advertising and promotional activities. The Advertising Fund is intended to maximize general public recognition in all media of the Proprietary Marks and patronage of Mr. Sandless
Businesses. We will use monies from the Advertising Fund to develop and prepare advertising which we will distribute to our franchisees for their placement in local media. Even though the Advertising Fund will prepare and distribute this advertising, every franchisee in the System may not derive the same or similar benefit from this advertising. We have no obligation to make sure that expenditures of the Advertising Fund in or affecting any geographic area are proportionate or equivalent to payments to the Advertising Fund by franchisees operating in that geographic area, or that any Business will benefit directly or in proportion to the Advertising Fees paid for the development of advertising and marketing materials or the placement of advertising.
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND TRAINING (FDD pages 19–25)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Mr. Sandless's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Mr. Sandless maintains a National Advertising Fund. Franchisees are required to contribute 1% of their gross sales to this fund monthly, in addition to their local advertising obligations.
The Mr. Sandless Advertising Fund is used for national, regional, and local advertising, publicity, and promotion of the Mr. Sandless system. Mr. Sandless has full discretion over how the fund is spent, including creative concept production, seminars, market research, advertising agencies, and various advertising campaigns (television, radio, social media, etc.).
Mr. Sandless can reimburse itself from the Advertising Fund for costs related to developing advertising materials and collecting advertising fees. Businesses owned by Mr. Sandless or its affiliates contribute to the fund on the same basis as franchisees. The fund is kept separate from Mr. Sandless's other funds, and any unspent amounts are carried over to the following year. Franchisees can request an annual, unaudited statement of funds collected and costs incurred. In the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, 100% of the Advertising Fund was spent on online advertising on platforms like Google, YouTube, Yahoo, and Bing to generate customer leads for owners.