The trade has tried three times to advertise flowers together. Florists had a real say in none of them.

The first try ended in a 1983–84 referendum, when growers and importers voted down a national floral promotion order, 665 to 329.

The second was PromoFlor, signed into law on December 14, 1993 and paid for by an assessment on the largest handlers. Its council was chaired by a wholesaler. Of its 25 seats, 22 went to wholesalers, importers and growers. Retail florists got 3, picked by organizations rather than by a vote of florists. Buzz the Bee went on the air in February 1996, and the program's own research counted more households buying flowers. It did not matter. In the June 1997 referendum, 58 percent of the handlers voting chose to end it. Only handlers could vote; the only florists with a ballot were those big enough to run their own distribution arm. By the end of July it was over.

In 1998, University of Florida economists found that advertising the flower grows flower sales but is "outlet neutral": it does not move customers from the supermarket to the flower shop. Is that good for the industry? Yes. Is it good for florists? That is not the same question.

The third try came in 2021: a proposed U.S. Floral Board of six growers and six importers. PromoFlor gave florists three seats out of twenty-five. The new one gives them none. Five years later, nothing has been published in the Federal Register.