So not many need an introduction for the lovely logo to the left. Wings, beer, short shorts, big boobs, but who ever thought about men?
I was just sitting around chatting with my roommate yesterday and she brought up that once upon a time (sorry this is nowhere near a new release it was settled in 1997) Hooters had been sued for denying men serving jobs. It had never occured to me! The Hooters Girl has been so ingrained I had never even thought about dudes wanting to serve. I tried looking up the story behind all this and find out a little more and unfortunately the only decent thing I could find was this http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E6DA1E3AF932A35753C1A961958260 and it really wasn't all that great.
However, my interest really isn't in all that happened with that case; I think it is AMAZING that Hooters hasn't skipped a beat since! How can such an equality-driven society in which women are shooting up the power ladder with ease and jobs are readily interchangable between the sexes not let all that affect this company? It's nuts. It's also awesome.
What kind of PR would something like that normally have? My google responded with a lot about Wal-Mart having gender issues but only one decent response about this issue. That says something about the power Hooters has over people, men and women. I think that the company really held their stance well by paying the $3.75 million settlement and going on their merry way. They did have to include a bona fide occupation qualification (informs my brilliant roomie) that is basically, "Hey, bro, you don't fit what we need. If we were looking for a nursing mother we wouldn't pick you either. Here's a couple bucks 'cuz we can't lose the ladies."
So, readers, do we think that Hooters handled this right? Or do we think it's demeaning to one sex or the other that sex appeal is really a basis of their business? In the PR sense, was it a good idea to pay the settlement and carry on? Yes. No. Yes.
Incredible. I'm going to have to giggle now at the guys who dress up as Hooters waitresses on Halloween because that's the closest their going to get.
Side note- now that I have blogged about baseball and boobs... should I hit beer next? Let's see what I can find.
2 comments:
We call Hooters "the politically incorrect Chicken Wing Place." I agree with you. I guess you can put lipstick on an owl, and it's still a Hooters Girl.
interesting point, I think that its ironic that you mentioned in your post "such an equality driven society where women are shooting up the power ladder..." The reason being is that I feel that institutions like Hooters set off a chain reaction that imposes a negative reaction and generalization toward women. Someone one going into Hooters could easily assume and comment, "women are such... blank". And I think that is where the power that Hooters hold. It would be a whole lot easier for Hooters to pay out such a small settlement especially when the negative press that was generated obviously didn't affect them too much, to be honest I'm sure most people probably chuckled when the heard about this. If this would have happened to another company then I think the outcome would have been different, much different.
Post a Comment