People aren’t happy that Nottingham’s branch of Hooters will be sponsoring a local under-10s team this season.
Hooters announced the sponsorship deal with club Burton Joyce on Wednesday (31 August) and it didn’t take long for Twitter to kick off.
In response to the news, one person wrote: “Why are Hooters sexualising kids and who on earth allowed them?”
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Another social media user said: “These lads are under 10. I very much doubt they are aware of the sexual attraction of woman. Wrong on so many levels,” while a third echoed: “Could’ve gone [with a] more appropriate age range.”
“Absolutely disgusting,” a fourth person bluntly tweeted, with a fifth adding: “Definitely not creepy to imply sexuality amongst 9-year-old boys.”
Not everyone was left seething over the move, though, with one footie fan quipping: “Wish my u10s team did the same.”
“Why are people getting so angry about this?! They’ve obvs never been to Hooters! A great bar, clearly with an excellent marketing plan and supporting a local team where the kids might not get a kit otherwise. People need to chill out and go get a beer in,” wrote another.
Announcing the partnership in a now-deleted Facebook post, Hooters Nottingham wrote: “Hooters Nottingham are proud to be the new sponsors of Burton Joyce U10s. We wish you all the luck this season boys. Go smash it.”
UNILAD has contacted Hooters Nottingham and Burton Joyce for comment.
Hooters was founded in Clearwater, Florida, by businessmen Lynn D. Stewart, Gil DiGiannantonio, Ed Droste, Billy Ranieri, Ken Wimmer and Dennis Johnson.
The very first Hooters opened in the site of a former nightclub and bikini model Lynne Austin became the very first ‘Hooters girl’ in 1983, going on to become the face of the business for the next decade.
The now-iconic Hooters uniform – consisting of a tight white tank stamped with the chain’s logo and short orange hot pants – is recognised across the globe.
According to Twisted, the chain’s unique selling point is ‘female sex appeal’ and staff are only permitted to work once they’ve signed an acknowledgement stating that ‘the Hooters concept is based on female sex appeal’.
Since the closure of Hooters Cardiff, Hooters Nottingham is now the only UK branch of the chain, however, it was announced earlier this year that Hooters would soon be setting up shop in Liverpool and is currently recruiting for ‘hundreds of jobs’, according to the Daily Post.
Aisha Nozari