First, I have nothing against Hooters as a business or even
the restaurant chain. They have excellent wings and their curly
fries are the best. I'm not wild about the waitresses and their
skimpy uniforms and the overall image. I know one of the
founders and lots of folks who work for the company. They are
good people!
But when I heard that Hooters Air was getting its wing
clipped I wasn't surprised. The jets were nice enough, no
complaints there. And who could complain about being served by a
couple of the Hooters girls working the isles in their tight
t-shirts, pushed up chest, and tiny little shorts? There, as the
saying goes, is the rub.
A couple of months ago I talked with one of the company's
market guys. He just couldn't understand why the airline wasn't
attracting more passengers. They had a huge billboard outside
the St. Pete-Clearwater Airport showing a young looking couple
and their two kids next to a Hooters jet. He told me the goal
was to make this a family friendly airline. Hello! Family
friendly?
Let me see. The name of your company is Hooters. Are hooters
those cute little owls that appear on your t-shirts or is that a
slang word for a female's upper anatomy? You tell me. When you
want the kids and the families it is our feathered friend. When
you want the young guys and divorced men and the sex and
football crowd it is the female anatomy. Why would a young
family with kids want to expose themselves to this message on an
airline? Why would a man who truly loves and respect his wife
put her through the embarrassment of him gawking at the push up
twins?
We've got two universes operating here and they don't mix all
that well. One universe glorifies well-endowed hotties to
satisfy the sexual appetite and good food to satisfy the
physical appetite. The other universe is the family structure
where the married husband and wife are supposed to respect and
honor each other. In the world of family it's not okay for daddy
to lust after the very young temptresses. It's not okay for the
waitress to attempt to flirt and hustle every man that walks
into the restaurant. It's not okay for the men to attempt to
look down the t-shirts and accidentally rub the behinds of the
girls as they walk by. Think that doesn't happen? Ask some of
the waitresses to tell you their horror stories.
Like I said, Hooters does have great food. And during the
football season you can't argue with the success of packed to
the walls restaurants. But I'd be less than honest if I didn't
tell you how awkward I feel when a top heavy waitress the same
age as my youngest daughter tries to put the make on
50-something me when I'm coming in for a take out order of
wings.
Actually, Hooters is just the personification of what's
happening in our society. It's okay to treat a woman like a
piece of meat because that's what they want anyway. Married men
are expected to keeping shopping the menu even after they've
order their meal. And it's all good, clean fun and nobody gets
hurt because, hey, everybody likes a party, don't they?
It's the same slippery slide I hear when folks tell me they
are fiscal conservatives but liberal on the issues, as if that
shows they are more open minded or somehow better than just run
of the mill conservatives. In my book, that doesn't fly.
Somewhere along the line your message is going to back fire.
Hooters Air is finding that out the hard way.
