…is the headline that we’ll probably be reading at this time next year. Because if you didn’t hear, the Hooters company has decided to attempt a spin-off restaurant concept, called Hoots, which will feature most of the same food, but less tits, less ass, more clothing, but most notably, more dong; they will additionally have male servers in addition to females.
Sure, times change. Things change. Stay ahead of the curve. Don’t wait until adversity to start adjusting. Embrace new ideas.
I get it, Hooters is trying to do something new, diversify their brand, perhaps tap into the demographic of people who think the parent restaurant concept is sexist, disgusting and not worth spending any money at.
But if there’s one company that doesn’t really need to take these kinds of risks, it’s Hooters. People don’t go to Hooters for the food, although their wings are pretty great, not to mention a buffalo chicken cheese dip that I recently had that was pretty awesome. No, people go to Hooters for a very transparent reason that men like to look at pretty women wearing tight, tacky uniforms, eat shit food, drink beer, and watch man-centric television when no waitresses are in sight. Women go to Hooters to keep tabs on their men, indulge in the same shit food, and judge other women.
Making a spin-off that eliminates 90% of the reason why people go to Hooters in the first place, with hopes of potentially tapping into a smaller demographic of people whose money they probably shouldn’t care about in the first place seems kind of like a poorly planned risk. Forego appealing to dumb horny men with disposable income, with hopes of luring feminists and moms with already-stretched wallets and less likely to dine out without the aid of coupons doesn’t seem like a trade-off that I’d be willing to make in a business sense.
I kind of feel like this is almost a reaction by Hooters, because of the rise of other notable breastaurant companies like Tilted Kilt and Twin Peaks, who’ve basically lifted the entire Hooters business model and target demographic, but replaced their waitress uniforms with even tackier and/or more revealing outfits, as well as the variety of sexy theme nights. These companies have emerged and have probably put notable dents into Hooters’ coffers, and now Hooters thinks creating a spin-off that takes steps away from the formula that made them is the answer. I don’t think it’s the right answer, but it’s still a reaction nonetheless.
If anything at all, Hooters probably should’ve doubled down, and tried to go a little more upscale and not downscale. Create a variant of Hooters that had some fancier chefs making some unique and high-end food items, and make sure all the servers are stringently-judged females in an even sexed-up version of the original Hooters uniform, and to give a little something back to the women that might accompany the men, have some tacky, Chippendale’d hunky men to be like busboys/runners/expediters.
More sex appeal, higher quality food, higher price points.
But then again, I think of some of the best business stories that I’ve ever read, and they’re always along the lines of mass producing cheap or free, and cashing in on a tremendous amount of littles instead of going for nothing but home run numbers. And this is why I’m not in business, and instead of button-presser for others.
Whatever though, I just think Hoots is a terrible idea, and I anticipate it failing. Do I like the idea of a place to pick up traditional Hooters wings without having to wait at a restaurant? Yes, I certainly do. But do I like the fact that it might be some Ryan Jones looking brah to take my order and bring me my said wings? Fuck that.
This could very well be like the equivalent of the XFL for the Hooters restaurant company; it might not ruin the entire company, but it has a very good chance of being a financial bust as well as everlasting embarrassment for the brand.
