Of all the multinational restaurant chains in the world, a Hooters restaurant will have probably the toughest time breaking into Malaysia.

This American enterprise has  425 restaurants in most states in the US and 19 other countries, including 3 in Asia: China, Singapore and recently, South Korea. Next up: Israel middle of this year. In China, the 4th Hooters restaurant is going to open in Beijing in July, and they plan to have, in all, 10 restaurants there.

The controversy isn’t the food, it’s the policy of the company: targeting male customers, and an all-female waitress staff, dubbed Hooters Girls. There are 200,000 of these girls around. They are selected based on their all-round good looks. You would recognise them by their distinctive uniform: white spandex tank top with the Hooters owl logo and the location name on the front, very short orange running shorts, glossy ultra sheer suntan pantyhose, white socks, and white athletic shoes. Example below is Hooters Girl Ms Melissa Poe:

Hooters is probably the world’s most controversial chain:

1. The uniform, of course.
2. General environment of a typical Hooters restaurant can be seen as sexist and demeaning of women.
3. Only women, never men, are employed as servers. Men are employed elsewhere where they are less seen, like in the kitchen. [Hmm... that got me wondering, do they have custom-made, Hooters-brand kitchen faucets?]
4. The word “hooters” itself can be interpreted as “a portion of the female anatomy”.
5. The restaurant does not see itself as a family restaurant, meaning you don’t bring your 3-year old to have dinner there.
6. Unsurprisingly, most of its customers are young males.
7. Hence, the focus is on the girls, not the food. After all, you can also find burgers and sandwiches anywhere else right?

But how are they doing in Asia? In China, there are now 3 restaurants, the first one opened in 2004, employing 150 locals as Hooters girls. That means about 50 girls in each restaurant! As expected, business is booming.  60% of the clientele are foreigners, but the locals, including the ladies, are warming up to the concept fast.

According to a newsreport carried by The Star, the girls are very attractive and “over friendly” but the management is very strict with them, like:

• no giving out phone numbers
• no answering phones at work
• can’t go out with customers
• can’t have “personal relationship” with customers

So what do these girls so at work, apart from the usual waitressing duties?

• They greet customers “warmly” on arrival and departure, although I am not sure what “warmly” entails – a peck on the cheeks? A hug? More?
• entertain hip-swinging hula-hoop acts and dances.

But how about the local girls employed as a Hooters girl?

Apparently, they have”no problem” with the uniform which they describe as “normal sportswear”.

And the salary is good. Joyce Chen, 20, a university student, has been a Hooters Girl for a year, earns an average of 6,000 yuan (RM2,700) a month total.

source 

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