Hooters

This page is about the restaurant chain; for other uses see Hooters (disambiguation).

Hooters Calendar Girl Melissa Poe in traditional orange and white uniform

Hooters is the trade name of two American restaurant chains: Hooters of America, Inc based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida. Between company owned locations and franchises, there are now over 350 Hooters restaurants in 46 U.S. states and 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, and is still privately held.

Hooters targets male customers with a female waitress staff, though men work at Hooters as cooks, hosts, bartenders, and managers. The menu includes hamburgers and other sandwiches, steak, seafood, and chicken. It also specializes in buffalo wings. Almost all Hooters hold alcoholic beverage licenses and sell 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 they are usually chosen for all-around good looks. 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 runner's 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. Men who work at Hooters wear shirts with long pants, Bermuda shorts, or attire more suitable for cooking.

Employee handbook requirements

The inside of a Hooters Restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Photo: Jason Trew

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

Customers can go to many places for wings and beer, but it is our Hooter Girls who make our concept unique. Hooters offers its customers the look of the "All American Cheerleader, Surfer, Girl Next Door."

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 as cooks and dishwashers.

The company's website 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."

Public relations

Michelle Moya, Nicki Kretchmer, and Melissa Poe (left to right) sign autographs for the Kandahar Airfield audience after the show June 2, 2004.

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, and Muscular Dystrophy Association [1]. Local restaurants will often select their own local charities.

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

Hooters also launched what it calls "Operation Let Freedom Wing", which involves sending its celebrities, like Hooters Calendar Girls, UC3, and singer Angela Lanza to visit troops overseas, including to Afghanistan.

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 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) diva Christy Hemme, Playboy Playmates Lynne Austin & Miriam Gonzalez, Naked News presenter Michelle Pantoliano, Co-host of Boston Bruins All-Access on NESN Jillian Nathan & Academy Award-nominated actress Amy Adams.
• The movie Big Daddy starring Adam Sandler references Hooters throughout, and the final scene takes place in a Hooters.
• Television show the The Office featured Hooters where Michael takes Jim to Hooters for lunch. The scene was filmed at a Hooters in Burbank, California. Several other episodes have featured the same premise.
• A scene in the movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery features guys at a Hooters restaurant celebrating the birthday of 'Smitty", only to find out that he was "decapitated by ill-tempered mutated sea bass". The scene in which one of Dr. Evil's henchmen was decapitated by the fish as a result of Austin Powers did make the final cut in the movie.

See also

• Hooters Air (ceased operations April 2006 except for charters)
• Hooters Casino Hotel
• Miami Hooters (a defunct Arena Football team)
• USAR Hooters Pro Cup - racing series

External links

• About Hooters - the Atlanta-based chain's information page
• Original Hooters - the non-Atlanta-based founders sub-chain
• Hooters' UC3 Musical group
• Hooters Political Contributions
• Transfer of "Hooters" brand from Clearwater to Atlanta, a March 2001 article from Atlanta Business Chronicle
• So You Wanna Be A "Hooters" Girl?, from The Smoking Gun
• Sexual Harassment Retaliation Lawsuit, from The Smoking Gun
• Hooters manager sues over lewd comments, from The Auburn Plainsman