Hooters

Hooters is the trade name of two restaurant chains, Hooters of America, Inc based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and Hooters, Inc, based in Clearwater, Florida. Between company owned locations, and franchisees, there are now over 350 Hooters restaurants, in 46 US states, plus 13 other countries, including Canada, Mexico, and Singapore - its first overseas location to open. The chain began operations on October 4, 1983 with a restaurant in Clearwater, Florida, and is still privately held.

Hooters targets male customers with a female waitress staff, though men find employment at Hooters as cooks, hosts, bartenders, and managers. The menu includes hamburgers, steak, other sandwiches, seafood, and chicken. It specializes in buffalo wings, too. Almost all Hooters hold alcoholic beverage licenses and sell a selection of beer and wine.

Hooters Girl

A Hooters Girl is a female waitress employed by the Hooters restaurant chain. It is generally thought that Hooters Girls are chosen for their breast size, but in fact are usually chosen for all-around good looks, attractive legs, and if small-chested, they may be asked to pad their bras. They are instantly recognizable by their uniform of a white tank top with the Hooters owl logo and the location name on the front paired with the famously short orange runners' shorts. Originally, the T-shirts were white cotton, pulled tight, and knotted in the back to emphasize the breasts. For years, this knot tying was a Hooters ritual before opening. Later, Hooters changed to a tight white spandex top that eliminated the knot-tying and is also less transparent when wet. Waitresses also have a choice of shirts that are more suitable for cold weather. The company also began using other colors and designs for their tops such as a camouflage theme on Monday ("Military Mondays"), black on Friday ("Formal Fridays") and the football uniforms of a local NFL team during the NFL season. The remainder of the Hooters Girl's uniform consists of glossy suntan pantyhose, white socks, and white athletic shoes. Pantyhose are a requirement for good looks, as are good shoes, because waitresses and waiters everywhere face the danger of plates and hot food dropped onto their feet. Men who work at Hooters wear shirts with long pants or Bermuda shorts, or attire more suitable for cooking in.

Employee handbook requirements

The Smoking Gun obtained a copy of the Hooter's Employee Handbook, which notes that:

Female employees are required to sign that they "acknowledge and affirm" the following:

1. my job duties require I wear the designated Hooters Girl uniform.
2. my job duties require that I interact with and entertain the customers.
3. the Hooters concept is based on female sex appeal and the work environment is one in which joking and sexual innuendo based on female sex appeal is commonplace.
4. I do not find my job duties, uniform requirements, or work environment to be offensive, intimidating, hostile, or unwelcome.

Public perception

Controversy

The chain is controversial on two counts.

1. The uniform is considered by some to be objectification of women. The general environment of the restaurant is seen by many feminists as sexist and demeaning of women.
2. The restaurant hires only women as servers, and refers to them as "Hooters Girls." Several discrimination lawsuits brought against the chain have been settled out of court or dropped by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Men do find employment at Hooters in jobs other than on the waitstaff. The men are always available to deal with the possibility of rowdy customers.

The company's management "acknowledges that many consider 'Hooters' a slang term for a portion of the female anatomy." But adds, "Hooters Girls have the same right to use their natural female sex appeal to earn a living as do supermodels Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell."

The chain sees itself this way: "Hooters characterizes itself as a neighborhood place, not a family restaurant. Seventy percent of all customers are male, most between the ages of 25-54. Hooters does not market itself to families." However, Hooters is also popular with female customers and families who enjoy its food, especially the buffalo chicken wings and sandwiches. Many women also enjoy going to Hooters with their husbands, boyfriends, brothers, and sons.

Public relations

Hooters has an extensive public relations campaign and has actively supported charities through its Hooters Community Endowment Fund. It has provided money and/or volunteers to charities such as Habitat for Humanity, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Special Olympics, Muscular Dystrophy Association [1]. Local restaurants will often select their own local charities.

Hooters also launched what it calls "Operation Let Freedom Wing", which involves sending its celebrities, like Hooters Calendar Girls, to visit troops overseas, including to Afghanistan.

Hooters musical group, UC3, performs at a variety of sporting events, promotional appearances, and charity shows.

Pop culture trivia

• Hooters has been parodied in South Park (Raisins) and The Simpsons (Knockers).
• An episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch portrayed a bachelor party in a Hooters of the "magic realm," in which the employees are giant owls that give "flap dances" instead of lap dances.
• Some famous former Hooters girls are Fox Sports Net's Leeann Tweeden, Former WWE diva Christy Hemme, Playboy Playmates Lynne Austin & Miriam Gonzalez and Co-host of Boston Bruins All-Access on NESN Jillian Nathan