- Hooters is a famous American owned bar with only one franchise in the UK.
- The franchise is based in Nottingham and the bar sponsors a children’s team.
- Several people on social media have expressed their outrage after the news broke.
Notorious bar Hooters has caused outrage after it announced that it was sponsoring a team of kids under 10 for the upcoming season.
The American-owned bar is infamous for the outfits worn by female staff while working, with critics calling it “degrading” to women.
Many in the past have suggested that the bar is objectifying women and have called on its franchisees to change their dress regulations or close down.
The bar has caused a lot of controversy after it announced that it had started sponsoring local Nottinghamshire club Burton Joyce’s under-10 team.
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Burton Joyce was founded in 1990 and has men’s and women’s teams for youth, seniors and the disabled.
Hooters only has one UK franchise, in Nottingham, and announced the sponsorship deal with one of the club’s youth teams on Wednesday night.
The news has sparked an outcry online, with many declaring the news scandalous and suggesting that a bar that is known for the clothes its employees wear during service is not fit to be associated with a children’s football team.
Outraged by the news, one user asked why Hooters was “allowed” to “sexualize children.”
‘Why does Hooters sexualize children and who the hell allowed it?’ they asked.
One user, responding to a tweet that went viral publicizing the news, said it was “not funny.”
‘This is not fun. The girls are also playing for this team,’ they said.
Before adding: “Also, these guys are under 10, which makes the implication that they’re ‘phwoarrr’ with Hooters girls ONLY a little creepy.”
Another social media user called the endorsement deal “very strange.”
Meanwhile, another pointed to the age of the children appearing alongside the women promoting the deal, saying it was “wrong on so many levels.”
‘These boys are less than 10 years old. I highly doubt that they are aware of the sexual attraction of women,’ they wrote. ‘Wrong on so many levels’.
‘In all seriousness. How can this be allowed or even tolerated? another user asked.
Despite the controversy, some social media users took it upon themselves to make light of the endorsement deal, with one user telling critics of the move that it was “just a sports bar.”
‘This is quality! I am having words with my sons club as to why they didn’t secure this deal,’ one individual tweeted.
Another joked: ‘You can’t see how many dads there are for the photo shoot!’
Having originally opened its Nottingham site in 1999, Hooters has tried to open other franchises in the UK, but has run into a number of problems, particularly from people protesting a bar opening in their town.
Maria Toolan, a Labor councilor for Liverpool, started a petition against the chain opening a franchise in the city earlier this year.
“Hooters is an archaic and chauvinistic brand and this type of place no longer reflects today’s society,” their petition read.
“Hooters employs women to further its business activities in an exploitative manner, demeans and demeans women, and undermines female equality.”
However, others have dismissed the concerns of the likes of Toolan by saying that the people who work at the restaurant do so of their own free will and are not required to do so.
‘I don’t see any problem. None of the girls are forced to dress that way. A lot of people who work for Hooters want to work for Hooters, so it’s not like someone forced them to,” a bar supporter told Nottingham Live in February.
The Football Association has regulations about sponsors that are allowed on youth team uniforms.
“In the case of a team composed of players under the age of 18 on August 31 of the current season, the appearance or incorporation in any article of clothing of any reference to a product, service or other activity that is considered the prohibition of the association that harms the well-being, health or general interest of young people, or that is otherwise considered inappropriate, taking into account the age of the players,’ its regulations read.
MailOnline has contacted Hooters for comment.