‘Demeaning’ US restaurant slammed for objectifying women to expand in the UK

The American ‘breastaurant’ Hooters has announced plans to expand in the UK. An advert for fifty ‘girls’ has reportedly been posted online, seeking waiting staff to wear the infamous uniform of tight low-cut white vests, and teeny tiny orange shorts. For so-called ‘Hooters Girls’, the uniform is compulsory, and only women are able to apply. Yes, it’s 2025, and apparently a market for Hooters still exists.

The chain with founded back in Florida on April Fools Day 1983 as a joke among a group of six men, with no restaurant experience. The name, of course, comes from a slang term for women’s breasts. Fast forward more than 40 years and there are 400 branches in the USA – but just two in the UK, in Nottingham and Liverpool. While the Nottingham Hooters is a long-standing fixture of the city, having opened in 1998, the chain has tried, with varying degrees of success, to expand here.

Plans are often met with objections from locals and councillors, who site the objection of women as a reason not to allow the chain to operate in their areas. The first UK branch was actually opened in Birmingham in 1998, only to close 18 months later. There have also be short-lived outlets in Bristol and Cardiff. An earlier proposal to open in Newcastle in 2015 came to nothing when police said it could attract more stag and hen dos, which could see a spike in crime.

The Liverpool branch opened in 2022, to the horror of mayor Joanne Anderson, who criticised Hooters’ ‘infamously sexually objectifying and misogynistic environment’, while Labour councillor Maria Toolan called it ‘demeaning and degrading’. The Merseyside police commissioner at the time, Emily Spurrell, also added: ‘A Hooters bar only works to undermine our efforts to tackle misogyny & the objectification of women. This is 2022 not 1982.’.

Now, the chain is readying to open in the Brigg’s Market area of Newcastle, with a date set for the end of February. It’s thought the success of this new North East location could determine whether further branches are opened in the future. But locals are already voicing their concerns. Professor of geography at Newcastle University, Jen Bagelman, told The Guardian it was ‘horrible’, adding: ‘we can do better than this.’.

Over on X, one user wrote: ‘We are going backwards so much it’s insane,’ while Newcastle local Mandy Buchanan wrote: ‘It’s disgusting that it’s coming to my city. I shall object with everything I’ve got.’. And another said: ‘Horrendous to see young women being exploited and reduced to sexual objects like this. I hope Newcastle shows them the door.’. And women’s charity FiLiA gave a statement from policy director Kruti Walsh on X, saying: ‘Violence Against Women and Girls is an epidemic so we firmly oppose plans to expand a chain that treats women as objects to be served up alongside chicken wings & fries.’.

But franchise co-owner Johnny Goard, who owns five Hooters in Canada, insisted people have Hooters all wrong. Speaking to the Guardian, he said: ‘It’s a restaurant. We don’t want to be here as a bar. ‘We do kids eat for free on Sundays. Hooters isn’t what you think it is, what you perceive it to be, until you come in the door.’. Metro is being supported by several charities and organisations in our bid to raise awareness of violence against women.

Women's Aid, the formal partner of This Is Not Right, is the UK's national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children. Randip Thompson, Director of Income Generation and Engagement at Women's Aid, says: 'Women’s Aid is proud to be supporting Metro’s This is Not Right Campaign. There is currently an epidemic of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in this country, which society needs to come together and actively challenge if we are to overcome it and protect women from abuse.

'The media has a pivotal role to play in ending VAWG, through spreading awareness of this gender-based abuse and empowering the public to take action against it. Campaigns like This Is Not Right are invaluable for positively changing narratives around abuse and ensuring that survivors feel validated and supported.'. Refuge, the UK's largest domestic abuse organisation, works to support thousands of women and their children overcome the impacts of abuse.

Abigail Ampofo, interim CEO of Refuge, says: 'Despite the horrific scale of VAWG that we are witnessing, this devastating, systemic issue is still not talked about enough. 'Refuge will be supporting Metro on the launch of their new awareness-raising campaign as we continue on our mission to actively challenge harmful and pervasive societal attitudes around VAWG, recognising that how media write about and report on these crimes and the social issue of misogyny impacts us all.