That slogan may now apply to McDonald’s and Jack In The Box franchisees in equal measure. McDonald’s franchise owners, who do not yet enjoy the strength, solidarity and representation of an independent franchisee association, are now taking a much closer look at the wisdom of joining together as one! Franchisees in the system of the Golden Arches are planning to meet with corporate management to “discuss the state of the business”, falling sales and expensive upgrades being pushed onto the franchisees. Could a Golden Arches Franchisee Association be coming soon? It’s a different situation relating the National Jack in the Box Franchisee Association (NJBFA), which represents about 90% of the franchised stores in the system. The independent NJBFA polled its membership, issued a vote of No Confidence in brand leadership, and called upon the Board to remove CEO Leonard Comma. One issue driving the discontent is the company’s refusal to hire a new Chief Marketing Officer after former CMO Iwona Alter, who had been with the company since 2005, left the company last month with corporate stating it “no longer needs her services”. More to come as these situations play out over the coming weeks.