01-14-2009, 05:31 AM
With locations on five of the worldâs six habitable continents (Africa is the lone holdout), Hooters has come a long way since its inception in October of 1983, in Clearwater, Florida. The chain celebrates its 25th anniversary.
1- Hooters Girls have to sign a sexual innuendo consent form
The first thing you didnât know about Hooters is that the companyâs non-harassment policy evidently doesnât apply to you, the customer, since as a condition of employment the girls are required to sign a form that, among other things, they âexpressly acknowledge⦠the Hooter concept is based on female sex appeal and the work environment is one in which joking and innuendo based on female sex appeal is commonplace.â
2- Hooters didn't serve liquor until 2006
Chicks in hot outfits, fried food, and liquor -- we might have figured this trifecta to be a safe business model from the outset, but for their own reasons, Hooters spent their first 23 years on the wagon. In 2006 the company evidently decided that a big change was in order, so they introduced that fresh new concept into the restaurants. Now, liquor sales represent 28% of its revenue.
Liquor licenses arenât cheap, but they tend to pay for themselves rather quickly, so we can only speculate on why it took them so long: sober guys donât make enough jokes and innuendo based on female sex appeal?
3- Hooters Girls can't wear their hair in ponytails
Another thing you didnât know about Hooters is that someone high up at that company is a follicle fascist.
Hooters Girls are meant to represent, in the words of the company, the âAll-American Cheerleader, Surfer, Girl Next Door,â but thereâs something fascist afoot at Hooters, something decidedly un-American -- a real rigidity and demand for conformity when it comes to hair. The employee manual is clear: âNo bizarre hair cuts or hair colors, no hats, headbands, hair clips or scrunchies,â and no ponytails -- the sine qua non of every cheerleader, second only to school spirit.
4- The Hooters name was inspired by Steve Martin
On May 17, 1980, three years before Hooters opened its doors, Steve Martin hosted Saturday Night Live and in his monologue he unknowingly provided the future restaurant with its name, saying, âI believe it's derogatory to refer to a woman's breasts as âboobs,â âjugs,â âwinnebagosâ or âgolden bozosâ -- you should only refer to them as âhooters.ââ
Martinâs next line was, âAnd I believe you should put a woman on a pedestal -- high enough so you can look up her dress,â possibly providing the founders with the motivation needed to launch a restaurant in such a competitive industry.
5- One ex-Hooters Girl is now a company VP
Before anyone thinks that former Hooters Girl Kat Cole, who now serves as Vice President of Training and Development, is a token hire put in place to appease their critics, think again. It took the Katie Holmes look-alike almost a decade to make VP, and by all accounts her rise up the ranks has been on merit.
Still, Cole hasnât forgotten her blue-collar roots, boasting that âthe skills I learned in the orange shorts still serve me today.â Nor has she forgotten her blond roots, remarking about her current work that sheâs âimproving the world one person at a time.â
She really did say that. Seriously.
1- Hooters Girls have to sign a sexual innuendo consent form
The first thing you didnât know about Hooters is that the companyâs non-harassment policy evidently doesnât apply to you, the customer, since as a condition of employment the girls are required to sign a form that, among other things, they âexpressly acknowledge⦠the Hooter concept is based on female sex appeal and the work environment is one in which joking and innuendo based on female sex appeal is commonplace.â
2- Hooters didn't serve liquor until 2006
Chicks in hot outfits, fried food, and liquor -- we might have figured this trifecta to be a safe business model from the outset, but for their own reasons, Hooters spent their first 23 years on the wagon. In 2006 the company evidently decided that a big change was in order, so they introduced that fresh new concept into the restaurants. Now, liquor sales represent 28% of its revenue.
Liquor licenses arenât cheap, but they tend to pay for themselves rather quickly, so we can only speculate on why it took them so long: sober guys donât make enough jokes and innuendo based on female sex appeal?
3- Hooters Girls can't wear their hair in ponytails
Another thing you didnât know about Hooters is that someone high up at that company is a follicle fascist.
Hooters Girls are meant to represent, in the words of the company, the âAll-American Cheerleader, Surfer, Girl Next Door,â but thereâs something fascist afoot at Hooters, something decidedly un-American -- a real rigidity and demand for conformity when it comes to hair. The employee manual is clear: âNo bizarre hair cuts or hair colors, no hats, headbands, hair clips or scrunchies,â and no ponytails -- the sine qua non of every cheerleader, second only to school spirit.
4- The Hooters name was inspired by Steve Martin
On May 17, 1980, three years before Hooters opened its doors, Steve Martin hosted Saturday Night Live and in his monologue he unknowingly provided the future restaurant with its name, saying, âI believe it's derogatory to refer to a woman's breasts as âboobs,â âjugs,â âwinnebagosâ or âgolden bozosâ -- you should only refer to them as âhooters.ââ
Martinâs next line was, âAnd I believe you should put a woman on a pedestal -- high enough so you can look up her dress,â possibly providing the founders with the motivation needed to launch a restaurant in such a competitive industry.
5- One ex-Hooters Girl is now a company VP
Before anyone thinks that former Hooters Girl Kat Cole, who now serves as Vice President of Training and Development, is a token hire put in place to appease their critics, think again. It took the Katie Holmes look-alike almost a decade to make VP, and by all accounts her rise up the ranks has been on merit.
Still, Cole hasnât forgotten her blue-collar roots, boasting that âthe skills I learned in the orange shorts still serve me today.â Nor has she forgotten her blond roots, remarking about her current work that sheâs âimproving the world one person at a time.â
She really did say that. Seriously.
