GoTo Shop: Hooters' family fun

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 12 (UPI) -- Love, or at least lust, can conquer all, even a floundering economy. Or that's what Hooters is betting.

The restaurant chain that's noted more for its buxom waitresses dressed in revealing costumes than for its food offerings is now entering the airline industry. Never mind that the bulk of air carriers are teetering on the verge of collapse, and as prospects of a U.S. attack on Iraq grow, tourism-related industries in particular are expected to be hard hit.

"People think we're crazy ... but we're not running away from this," said Mark Peterson, chief operating officer of Hooters Air, the airline subsidiary of Hooters of America Inc.

Granted, Hooters Air isn't aiming to compete directly with the major airlines. Instead, the company is focusing on shuttling customers to its golf course in Myrtle Beach, S.C., from Atlanta, where the company is headquartered. Also, there is, of course, the added benefit of two Hooters girls on board.

The 112 passengers on Hooters Air can not only look forward to a round of golf, "but the flight experience itself too," Peterson said.

The mere thought of two girls in neon-orange skin-tight hot pants and tank tops with a plunging neckline serving food and drink on a flight to a holiday destination will likely bring a big grin on many golfers' faces.

The urge to ogle would certainly be the driving force for most potential Hooters flyers, who need to pay up $129 for a one-way ticket between Myrtle Beach and Atlanta, considerably higher than what is available through discount ticket agencies. Delta Airlines, for instance, can offer a round-trip ticket for $140, while AirTran can fly the same route for $180.

"We're not going to compete in the low-cost (ticket) market," Peterson said, as he emphasized the importance of enjoying the experience, rather than seeking out bargain fares. The company will be launching a flight between Georgia and Newark, N.J., later this month, for which it will also not be setting the price to compete with other airlines.

These premium prices, however, are actually the opposite of what many Hooters restaurant customers seek.

The scene at Hooters in Rockville, Md., on a Saturday night is a crowded one. There are groups of college-age men who are celebrating one of their buddy's birthdays, eager to be feted by the Hooters Girls who will surround them and sing them a song in front of the entire restaurant. But while there are plenty of men-only tables of all age groups, they are actually in the minority.

Somewhere since its establishment in 1983, Hooters has become a family fun-night destination, where the Hooters Girls are scantily dressed, but they have become more a source of amusement rather than erotic allure. Looking around the tables of mothers, fathers and children all tucking into chicken wings and cheeseburgers, one sees that for the most part the visitors are oblivious to the fact that their waitress is exposing quite a lot of flesh.

Perhaps a sense of feeling a bit naughty as a family can only make ties stronger.

The restaurant also attracts young couples on dates, as well as the occasional solo diner, who admittedly are for the most part male.

That's not all. Hooters is also politically correct in its selection of the Hooters Girls, who serve popcorn shrimp, baby back ribs, and other standard sports bar fare. The restaurant chain makes sure that the girls are not just blondes or brunettes, but also Hispanic, Asian, and African American. That could actually be in part a result of the legal battle the franchise had with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1995, which charged the company with discriminating against men who wanted to work at the restaurant chain.

The Future of Freedom Foundation, a libertarian advocacy group, referred to the chain as a "Playboy Club for rednecks" that "sells titillation and flirtation along with its greasy burgers and fries." Yet, the company ultimately won the lawsuit, as the government dropped the charges. During the case, some 500,000 Hooters customers supported the chain by sending postcards to Congress.

But perhaps the drawn-out legal battle has tamed the company's initial policy to taunt and flirt. Or maybe the clientele has become over-exposed to bare navels and cleavage, anyway. Compared to supermodels sporting Victoria's Secret lingerie on the runway, the Hooters Girls have almost been demoted simply to the nice girl next door rather than sex kittens.

"It's just a fun place to hang out. And it's so cheap too, that you can't go wrong, really," said Rick, a 34-year-old attorney, who preferred not to give his last name. "It's like any other theme restaurant," he added. Indeed, Hooters has gone global, and its girls can serve sports bar fare in countries as far-flung as Singapore, Taiwan and Austria, hardly bastions of rednecks.

Perhaps the Hooter Air girls, too, will simply make the chore of flying a bit more fun once again.

(GoToShop is a biweekly musing on where or where not to spend one's hard-earned paycheck. If there is, indeed, an opposite and equal reaction for every action, then shopping is no exception. The fine art of shopping can be a political statement, a social manifestation, an economic triumph -- or simply a dud decision on the part of the consumer.)